Kami's Reward
by StormScythe
Summary: DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto, all rights go to Kishimoto. Naruto has beaten Obito, Madara, and stalled Sasuke long enough to end the 4th Shinobi World War in his favor, dying in the process. His reward? He gets to live his life all over again, however he wants, as a video game character! Intelligent!Strong!Naruto, Fem!Naruto, slight AU, better summary inside.
1. Death, Kami, and Philosophy

Summary: Naruto has beaten Obito, Madara, and stalled Sasuke long enough to end the 4th Shinobi World War in his favor, dying in the process. His reward? He gets to live his life all over again, however he wants, as a video game character!

Inspired by _Naruto: Legend Reborn_by Lambhuna, so go check it out. Wanted to take my own spin on the game world Naruto, and I plan on taking a rather different path with this than where I think he was going.

Intelligent!Strong!Naruto, Fem!Naruto, Pairings are undecided as of yet. Also AU: I am keeping events following along lines very similar to cannon at first. There are a few small things which change early on, but for the most part the changes which I will be making are later.

Talking: "Teme has duck-butt hair!"

Thinking:_'Shut up Naruto!'_

Demon/Summon Taking:**"Hmm, I can see the resemblance …"**

Demon/Summon Thinking: **_'I wonder if uses a jutsu for that?'_**

Justus: **Duck-butt no jutsu!**

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

Chapter 1: Death, Kami, and Philosophy

Naruto felt the kunai slam into the back of his head, and like a switch, the world went dark. '_Damn it!'_was his first thought. Actually, his first was '_Aw shit…,_' so technically '_Wait I'm still conscious?'_was his third. _'If I really have to sit around, floating in endless darkness for eternity, I'm gonna be soooo pissed.'_

Naruto had been fighting against Sasuke after the bastard had betrayed them…again. _'Seriously, why did I give him so many chances? …Huh? ...Kurama? You there?'_Normally the bastard would have had a scathing comment for him by that point, so Naruto figured the fuzz ball hadn't followed him into the afterlife.

Naruto hovered there for hours, or at least what felt like hours. Turns out it's rather difficult to measure time when you have absolutely no point of reference. Finally, he spotted what appeared to be a white dot rushing towards him. It resolved itself into letters and words as it approached, and then slammed to a halt in front of Naruto:

**GAME OVER!**

Naruto sighed at the sight. He'd failed. Not in everything, but in enough. The 4th Shinobi World War had been short, brutal, and bloody. The Akatsuki had been decimated by the time Pein fell to Naruto, and Obito-Madara had rapidly moved to all-out war in order to capture the remaining biju. The five great nations had allied themselves against the bastard, but it had barely been enough.

Somehow the bastard had manufactured an army that left the odds nearly one to one against the Shinobi Alliance, at least numerically. White Zetsu clones were actually rather pathetic fighters. Then Kabuto showed up, and started throwing every dead ninja and the kitchen sink into the mix via **Edo Tensei (Impure World Reincarnation).**

This had given the Akatsuki forces the muscle they needed to counter the Allied force's elite ninja, such as Kakashi, Gai, and the Sand Siblings. Of course, once word got out that they could only be brought down via sealing, it simply came down to a matter of immobilizing them. Then the Zetsus started morphing into people, so Naruto had bolted to the front lines in order to detect them. Naruto had been wiping the floor with Zetsus left and right, even helping to take down several of the strongest Edo-ninja.

Then Kabuto created Edo-Madara, and everything devolved into a chaotic shit storm, because everyone thought Madara was alive. But then there was an Edo-Madara dropping fucking meteors (plural) on everyone. Then Fake-Madara who turned out to be Obito revived the Juubi. Sasuke showed up, Obito-Madara got control of the Juubi, Edo-Madara got control of Obito-Madara, and Edo-Madara became REAL Madara, captured the Juubi, and activated the infinite Tsukuyomi. Sasuke and Naruto managed to resist its effects, and battled Madara.

Once Madara had turned into Kaguya, Naruto stopped even pretending to know what the fuck had been happening. They managed to seal Kaguya using the powers Naruto and Sasuke had inherited as the reincarnations of the Rikuudo Sennin's children. Naruto had been relieved, but then Sasuke had to go and start mouthing off about revolution and slitting the five Kage's throats before they recovered from the Tsukuyomi. They fought, and Naruto lost. The rest is history.

Naruto sighed, looking up at the massive words before him. '_Wonder if there's a way to speed things up?'_Naruto reached out and touched the words. The moment he came into contact with the letters they seemed to melt away, only to be replaced by the words:

**SCORE:**

**STORYLINE:**

**Childhood: SUCCESS! +50**

**Academy: SUCCESS! +50**

**Nami no Kuni: SUCCESS! +250**

**Chuunin Exams: SUCCESS! +250**

**Tsunade Retrieval: COMPLETE! +500**

**Sasuke Retrieval (I): FAILED! -1000**

**Kazekage Rescue: SUCCESS! +2500**

**Tenchi Bridge: FAILED! -5000**

**Immortal Duo: SUCCESS! +2500**

**Sasuke Retrieval (II): FAILED! -5000**

**Invasion of Pain: SUCCESS! +5000**

**Five Kage Summit: SUCCESS! +5000**

**4th****Shinobi World War: DIED! -10000**

**Subtotal: -4900**

**ALLIES:**

**Sasuke: Evil -2500**

**Sakura: Alive +1000**

**Kakashi: Alive +1000**

**Kiba: Alive +1000**

**Shino: Alive +1000**

**Hinata: Alive +1000**

**Choji: Alive +1000**

**Shikamaru: Alive +1000**

**Ino: Alive +1000**

**Neji: Dead -1000**

**Lee: Alive +1000**

**Tenten: Alive +1000**

**Iruka: Alive +1000**

**Konohamaru: Alive +1000**

**Jiraya: Dead -1000**

**Sarutobi: Dead -1000**

**Haku: Dead -1000**

**Gaara: Revived +500**

**Tsunade: Alive +1000**

**Yamato: Captured -1000**

**Sai: Alive +1000**

**Subtotal: +7000**

**BOSSES:**

**Danzo: Missed! 0**

**Mizuki: Victory! +100**

**Zabuza: Victory! +100**

**Gaara: Victory! +100**

**Orochimaru (I): Failed! -100**

**Sasuke (Cursed Seal): Failed! -100**

**Sasori/Deidara: Victory! +150**

**Orochimaru (II): Failed! -150**

**Sasuke (Teen): Failed! -150**

**Kakuzu: Victory! +150**

**Pein: Victory! +200**

**Sasuke (Mangekyo): Failed! -200**

**Obito: Victory! +250**

**Kaguya: Victory! +250**

**Sasuke (Savior): DIED! -500**

**Subtotal: +100**

**Miscellaneous:**

**Failed to Become Hokage: -1000**

**Died a Virgin: -2000**

**Defeated Akatsuki: +1500**

**Failed to Rescue Sasuke: -1000**

**Failed to Save Itachi: -1000**

**Befriend Kurama: +1500**

**Discovered Heritage: +500**

**Died in Battle: -500**

**Enemies Defeated: 1,347**

**Subtotal: -653**

**TECHNIQUES:**

**D-Ranks: (2)(50)=100**

**C-Ranks: (1)(100)=100**

**B-Ranks: (1)(150)=0**

**A-Ranks: (2)(200)=400**

**S-Ranks: (1)(250)=250**

**Created: (2)(500)=1000**

**Subtotal: 1850**

**Total: 3397 Rank: Genin**

**Dobe 1000 Rookie of the Year 1000-2500**

**Genin 2500-5000 Chuunin 5000-10000**

**Jounin 10000-15000 Sannin 15000-20000**

**Kage 20000**

'_Huh…I kinda sucked according to this__,__'_Naruto thought. _"Ah__,__ fuck it, the points distribution is totally skewed anyways.'_Naruto reached out and tapped the words again, and the words melted away and reconfigured.

**EXTRAS UNLOCKED!**

Naruto scoffed at that. "Fancy new Items! Great! I get cool stuff when I'M DEAD AND CAN'T USE THEM!" Naruto ranted angrily. "I mean, COME ON! Even if the afterlife is seriously set up like a scoreboard, implying that we can have a second play…through…" he trailed off as he considered the implications. "…HOLY SHIT!" He hurriedly continued reading:

**Action: Befriended Kurama!**

**By managing to get through to Kurama and befriend him, you are able to import his memories into any new play through!**

**Action: Oiroke no Jutsu!**

**By creating the Sexy Technique and using it to great effect, you have unlocked the female Avatar options!**

**Action: Become a Savior!**

**By making it to the final battle, and inheriting your full power as an incarnation of Asura, you have completed one of the requirements for unlocking the Rikuudo Naruto Avatar!**

**Action: Martyrdom!**

**By dying to in order to complete the game you have unlocked the Kekkai Genkai Option!**

**Action: Discovered Heritage!**

**By discovering the identities of BOTH your parents, you unlocked the option to receive your inheritance from them, which was lost in the original timeline!**

Naruto quickly read through the list of unlocked options, slightly confused but also intrigued. Some of these sounded really kickass. But the last entry truly captivated him. His hand slowly drifted out and brushed the text _'A link to Tou-san and Kaa-chan?'_Suddenly the text morphed again, this time revealing the words:

**Continue?**

**Yes/No**

Before Naruto could do anything, a brilliant column of light appeared next to him. What sounded like a chorus of angels could be heard. The light slowly faded revealing what appeared to be a young girl, maybe eight or nine, with minute feathered wings, wearing a single piece simple dress that covered her entire body from her shoulders to her ankles. She practically _screamed_ angel. Her face was shaped in such a way which seemed slightly childlike, but promised to grow into a surpassing beauty. But it was her eyes that captivated Naruto.

They shimmered with mirth and laughter, reflecting a light which wasn't actually there, and hidden behind them was a look that seemed to signal vast, endless, eternal knowledge. '_Who is she?'_Naruto wondered, before realizing he was staring. "A-ah, h-hi?"

The girl giggled. "Wondering who I am?" she spoke in a melodious voice. "I'm an aspect of Kami. Yup, THE Kami, the guy upstairs, the head honcho if you will."

"Oh," Naruto said, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Which really, given his day so far, it wasn't all that surprising.

"So, as for why I'm here! I'm an aspect of Kami, pertaining to entertainment. Basically, in order to manage being omnipotent and omniscient, we (Kami) split ourselves along the lines of a lot of different roles. I represent our fun loving side. I'm here because you are, for lack of a better term, interesting. Your story has near infinite permeability, and it's really quite the epic journey you go on.

"Furthermore, you did it! You won!" Naruto looked confused, hadn't he DIED? Hadn't he been killed by Sasuke? And wasn't his score, while not abysmal, still pretty bad? The girl giggled again before continuing. "See, you didn't actually NEED to survive. Sure you beat Sasuke in some outcomes, but in the one you pulled off, you held off Sasuke long enough for Sakura and Kakashi to revive the Kages, and then weakened him enough for the Kages to finish the job. In short, the good guys won thanks to your actions.

"Now, why does that matter? Are you familiar with the concept of a seesaw? The more weight you add to one side the more it tips that way. The universes function similarly. The more hatred, evil, and villainy, the more it tips towards Darkness, giving Akuma more power. More love and compassion, more power and influence for Kami, me…us…you get the idea! By getting the good guys to win, turning nine raging piles of hate into giant lovable guardians, and sealing Kaguya, you flipped your universe back into my court, when it was on the verge of falling to Akuma, possibly permanently. So you earned a reward!"

"Oh..." was all a dazed Naruto managed to squeeze out.

After another giggle fit at Naruto's expression, Kami continued. "So this is how we get here. We like watching your life. You, presumably, want to keep living. So you're going to be our entertainment for the next few thousand years. You get to live out your life, as many times as you want, with a whole bunch of perks you can unlock, if you press yes. But who wants to watch the same movie over and over again? Things will certainly be getting changed up. So here's your reward: first time through, we change NOTHING. The only changes will be due to the effects of your actions. You get 1 guaranteed no interference run to make your life as perfect as you can."

"What happens if I press no?"

"I wipe your memories; we skip the boring run and just start pumping you through whatever scenarios we can make up."

"O-oh. Okay…So really no choice there."

"Nope, not really."

"Aren't you supposed to be the good guys…guy?"

She sighed. "It's all a matter of perspective. EVERYTHING is subjective. Technically by wiping your memories, your soul is freed, so a version of you goes to the afterlife, and we can create a new version to be our toy. Sometimes they come out weird, though. One version that we tried this with, back while you were still in the timeline, thought he was actually a Kami. That was awkward. So we're technically not harming you by doing this. That's really the key. Mortals like to make a big deal out of being 'selfless' and 'self-sacrificing.' Reality is more like 'don't be a douchebag.'" At this point they both laughed, the girl somehow putting Naruto at ease.

"Then what about fighting? Can a war be necessary, even good, if it's for the right reasons?" Naruto asked.

"Everything is a shade of grey, even pure black and white. But we are getting FAR off track. Telling you too much about things like this is against the rules. But you're kind of, well, dead and removed from the time stream. You have an answer?"

Naruto looked at the two options before him. He could just move on, go to heaven, and let Kami have its fun with a different him, but… He had a chance to do some real good, and to get to make the people who he cared for happier than they were in the real timeline. He had a chance to protect them from the evils in the world… _'Damn it all. I really don't know when to quit do I?'_

Still he hesitated. Last time he had dedicated his life to creating peace and stabilizing the world. Though he had succeeded, he hadn't been there to see it, and it was a damn near run thing. He hesitated because he knew that if he was going to try again he would have to fix mistakes he had made in the past, that he would have to act decisively and work towards his goal from the very beginning. And he knew that some of those mistakes were from not killing people he should have when he had the chance. Sasuke's face floated through his mind.

He clenched his fists. _'But I can save Sasuke before he turns. Keep him from becoming the monster he was at the end...' _he thought. _'Can I really do this? Because if I go back, knowing what I know, I can't hesitate to kill if I know someone will be a threat. I know I've always said I would protect my precious people, that I would die for them.' _He snorted. _'Technically I have. But can I kill for them?' _ But as he finally crystallized his hesitation he already knew the answer.

Naruto's hand reached out before he could change his mind and slapped yes.

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

**A/N: **Special thanks to my friend Conquest (she doesn't have an account, but that's a placeholder name) for Beta'ing this.

**Edit (11/15/2014): **Spelling and grammar fixes.

**Edit (2/13/2014): **Removed the philosophy bit, because it was unnecessary and poorly written, framed, phrased, etc.


	2. Kurama, and Character Selection

Talking: "Teme has duck-butt hair!"

Thinking:_'Shut up Naruto!'_

Demon/Summon Taking:**"Hmm, I can see the resemblance …"**

Demon/Summon Thinking: **_'I wonder if uses a jutsu for that?'_**

Justus: **Duck-butt no jutsu!**

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

Chapter 2: Kurama &amp; Character Selection

Kami grinned at Naruto. "Good choice! Now, I'm going to head out now, places to be, things to do, people to see! But just to make sure you find everything okay…here!" As she spoke Kami held out her hand and a look of concentration scrunched up her face. Slowly forming was what looked for all the world to be a white **Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere)**. After it was completed, she lowered her hand and the ball stayed in place hovering at her waist height. "Your very own lantern spirit!" She chirped happily. "Actually, since Kurama can be carried over now, it's based on him."

"Based on Kurama?" Naruto was rather confused. "So, it's Kurama in Rasengan form?"

Kami looked at the lantern for a moment. "How did I never see that comparison?" she wondered aloud. "Well…yes basically. It will be the Kurama you remember from the timeline, all his thoughts and memories, only he will be able to access information on any menus you come across, and can explain how the system works to you. Anyways, I'm off. Later!" And with a flash of light, she was gone.

"So you're basically the guide? Sweet!" said Naruto, addressing the sphere. "What do I do first?"

A loud groan came from the orb. **"Damn it kit, what'd you get us dragged into this time? Furthermore why aren't you dead? Because I distinctly remember you getting decapitated."**

"Basically…I am dead. But Kami treats my life like a movie, and she wants a whole series. So now I get to relive my life, with all my memories plus a few new tricks," Naruto explained. "She set the whole thing up like a weird ass video game, I got scored on my previous life and did passably, but not really good. Plus side though, I did unlock a bunch of stuff, which I guess I can use in the next run."

"**Ugh…damn it. Why does my head feel like it's split in…oh. Huh. Well that's new."**

"Huh? What's new?"

"**The massive information dump I just got. So this is what it's like when all your clones release at once. Kami almighty. I take back every time I called you a wimp for passing out from this."**

"Wow, you admitting I'm not a wimp? Are you going soft on me fur-ball?"

"**So help me brat, I will rip you apart if you call me that again!"**

"Yeah, so…death threats don't really work on the dead…"

Naruto got the funniest feeling the fox was grinning. **"That's why it's not a death threat. Just imagine having to spend eternity in hundreds of pieces. All that pain…just like Hidan!"**

"Right," Naruto gulped. "So memories, watcha get?"

The fox laughed. **"Basically I'm your game manual. You're lucky I like you know. I could make this soooo damn confusing…"**the fox laughed again. **"You have questions about the game, I can answer them, other than that, I'm pretty much just like I was before. I sleep in your gut and pretend the world doesn't exist."**

Naruto suddenly looked apprehensive. "You sure you're okay with this? I mean, I know how you hate being used. And we're basically super glorified gladiators at this point…"

He wasn't sure quite how, but Naruto was now certain he was sensing expressions from the fox/ball. Somehow he knew Kurama looked uncomfortable. **"Kit…DAMN IT! CUT IT OUT BRAT! I'M NOT USED TO PEOPLE BEING NICE TO ME!" **Naruto smiled sadly. **"Look…I hate being used, but I'm fine with helping people I like. My siblings, the Rikuudo before he died, and now you." **The fox sighed. **"If I were to stay in the timeline, I'd probably just get slapped into some other Jinchuriki's gut the moment I reformed, you're pretty much the only friend the biju have and your dead. Here I get to help out one of my friends. Screw it all if Kami finds it entertaining. I'm here for you, not her…it…them…GAH that's confusing!"**

"Alright then. Step one is to get back into things. Kami says I get one chance at the original storyline. Which means I get one chance to make things right for EVERYONE. After that, who knows what they'll be throwing at us."

"**Allow me to clarify something. You get at LEAST one complete play through. ****Kami may not get bored right away, and give us another shot, or only change one small thing, like someone's gender."**

"Right. So we should plan ahead a little bit. Kami knows your better at that, but we don't want to fuck things over so badly we don't know what'll happen when."

"**Wait, you actually trust ME with the plan!"**

"Well I'll help. Besides, didn't you just say you were here to help me?" The fox…shook its head? _'Kami but that's weird.'_

**"I'm a rampaging engine of destruction!"**

"'Were' a rampaging engine of destruction right?" Naruto countered.

Kurama snorted and looked annoyed. **"Alright look. Screw planning. The entire point of this is to make the world what YOU want this time. Yeah you wanna make your friends happy and save the world, but don't stress about perfection. Point being, just off the top of my head, saving Sasuke the first time? That's gonna screw things ROYALLY!"**

"So…we say fuck it and screw with things to our hearts content?"

"**Not quite. Don't go insane, they'll just lock us up. Probably won't kill us, just give us therapy for the rest of our lives. And that would suck."**They both shuddered. **"Just don't hesitate to do better, simply because you don't wanna lose prior knowledge of events."**

"Right so how do we start the game?" As if on command a new series of text lines appeared:

**Main Menu**

**New Game**

**New Game+**

**Scores**

**Extras**

"**Right. Most of this is self-explanatory. New game, starts a new game. New Game plus, we can't use cause you died in the 4th ****Shinobi World War. If you ever live past it, then you can import that you into a new game and retain all jutsu, skills, and experience from that life."**

Naruto's eyes widened. Then he burst out laughing. Once he calmed down he noticed the fox's quizzical 'expression.' "I was just imagining the look on Orochimaru's face if we popped full biju mode on him in the Second Test. Or slapped him with a **Rasenshuriken (Spiraling Shuriken)****.** The fox chuckled.

"**Scores lets you review your stats from previous lives. And finally Extras, will let you spend score points ****from previous lives on things we can use in game, like legendary items, kekkai genkai, even paying to have some characters that died before out time return from the dead at some point. It also lets us view Achievements, which will be mostly blank for now. By completing hidden actions in the world, we can get bonus score for the store, and we can review the list of what actions we have taken in the past here."**

"Alright. No biggie. Just aisle 12, world warping demigod powers…" Naruto joked weakly. "Can we actually afford anything in the store at the moment?"

"**Uh…nope. You kinda sucked so we didn't get a massive haul the first time through. Most things in there cost around 10,000 points. The smallest is 5,000."**

"What costs only five thousand points?"

"**Your apartment not sucking."**

"Oh." Naruto seemed to deflate. _'Damn living through my childhood several times is gonna suck. Maybe I can find a way around that eventually.'_

**"Oh and before I forget, all menus and pop-ups are tied to you mentally, you can will them to do things. So you don't have to go flailing around in front of people."**

Naruto focused on the New Game option, since he didn't really have any other choices. The menu molded itself to reveal a single option:

**Child of Prophesy: Naruto's Journey**

"**This is game mode selection eventually we can unlock other options, like living through Sasuke's path, or Kakashi's rather than your own. For now though we only have the one option so go ahead and choose that one."**

Reaching out again Naruto touched the text and it faded away. Suddenly he felt the sensation of falling. Looking down he saw a gray dot which resolved itself into a concrete floor, looking like something out of a wartime bunker.

Falling into the room, feeling a surprisingly light impact, given how long he had been falling, Naruto looked up to see Kurama dropping down behind him. Naruto quickly sidestepped and Kurama fell into the room in the exact spot Naruto had just been occupying. The ball of light hit the floor…and bounced. Naruto choked back laughter as the ball flew sideways, ricocheting off the walls twice before stabilizing and returning to floating at around shoulder height.

Naruto got the impression that Kurama was sitting stiff backed, with his tails neatly curled, and his nose in the air, exuding an air of 'I meant to do that.' Naruto gave up on holding back the laughter. He just rolled on the ground laughing. _'Ha ha…Kami, I thought only cats could do that! HAHAHA!'_

Naruto finally calmed down and stood back up. "Sorry Kurama, but that was hysterical." The fox growled lightly but there was no real malice in it.

'**_Damn it, the kit really got me good. Normally I'd shred a mortal for laughing like that, but with him, seeing him laugh makes me smile…ugh I'm going to barf.' _****"If you are finished making a fool of yourself, we can get down to business. We are now in the Avatar selection room."**As if his voice activated it, a wall suddenly warped and in its place was a door, through which an 11 year old Naruto walked in, followed by a fully clothed 11 year old version of his Oiroke form. **"As you can see you have two choices. Additional characters can be unlocked by actions taken during our lives, and or by buying some in the store. They're REALLY expensive though."**

"Why on earth would I want to play as a girl," Naruto asked.

"**Check their stats, all the avatars have different effects and back stories. These two are fairly similar since they are the most basic, but some of the advanced ones can really screw with your stats and story."**Naruto nodded acceptance of the fact. He almost asked how to check their stats when he had a hunch. He thought the word stats, and sure enough a window popped up next to the male avatar, who Naruto had been looking at:

**Uzumaki Naruto (Dobe):**

**_This avatar is the basic. During the attack of the Kyuubi, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina sacrificed themselves to seal the demon away inside of their son, Naruto. Wishing the boy to be seen as a hero, the Sandaime presented him to the village as their savior. However the villagers saw only the demon and showered the him with hatred and spite…_**

**Stats:**

**Physical: A**

**Intelligence: C**

**Chakra: S**

**Control: D**

**Traits:**

**Jinchuriki (Kyuubi no Kitsune)**

**Object of Hatred**

**Resilient (Heritage:Uzumaki)**

**Yondaime's Child**

"Okay…so this is the timeline version of me. What do the different stats mean?"

"**They represent your starting capabilities,"**Kurama explained. **"Physical represents your physical capabilities, how strong and fast you are. Intelligence represents, how smart and perceptive you are. When you level up you gain stat points to distribute among your stats, and the grade you have in that area determines your starting stats."**

"So Chakra would represent my reserves, and control would be my ability to manipulate chakra?"

"**Right, so you start with massive reserves thanks to yours truly, but you have abysmal control. These are increased slightly differently. You can't put points into them when you level up, you have to actively train them, by doing exercises."**

"I see…" Naruto shot the floating orb a funny look.

"**What?" the kyuubi queried.**

"Nothing, it's just…you're actually not that bad of a teacher. Anyways, let's check the other avatar." He looked at the female version of himself and sent the mental command to bring up the details menu. Startled at how quickly it became reflex, he realized it was rather similar to the way he commanded his **Kage Bunshins (Shadow Clones)**.

**Uzumaki Naruko (Dobe):**

**_During the attack of the Kyuubi, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina sacrificed themselves to seal the demon away inside of their daughter, Naruko. Wishing the girl to be seen as a hero, the Sandaime presented her to the village as their savior. However the villagers saw only the demon and showered the girl with hatred and spite…_**

**Stats:**

**Physical: A**

**Intellectual: C**

**Chakra: A-S**

**Control: C**

**Traits:**

**Jinchuriki (Kyuubi no Kitsune)**

**Object of Hatred**

**Resilient (Heritage:Uzumaki)**

**Yondaime's Daughter**

**Perfected Construct**

"Hmm. So if I'm reading this correctly then the female me has more control initially, and slightly lower reserves? Wow that might actually be worth it. I might actually pass the Academy exam that way."

"**Pay attention to the traits as well. They aren't quite the same. The female avatar has another trait, Perfected Construct."**

Naruto looked at the list of traits. Sure enough there was an extra trait listed after the female avatars. He looked at the traits list and mentally ordered the details window to appear:

**Traits:**

**These are characteristics of an Avatar which do not develop continuously like skills, nor can they be trained like stats. A trait is a special ability or status which alters the fundamentals of the character's functioning. Avatars start with certain traits, and others can be developed or lost mid game during special circumstances.**

**Jinchuriki (Kyuubi no Kitsune)**

**Contained within the character is the Nine Tailed biju, the Demon Fox. Causes exponential growth of chakra reserves during childhood, and access to the biju's chakra and special abilities can be developed over time.**

**Object of Hatred**

**For some reason, many of the people near where the character lives dislike or hate the character. They are likely to make life difficult or outright dangerous for the character.**

**Resilient (Heritage:Uzumaki)**

**The character is preternaturally resistant to harm, either through a ruggedized body or rapid regeneration. In this case the incredible vitality of the Uzumaki line makes the character extremely hardy and difficult to kill, but provides no regeneration.**

**Yondaime's Daughter**

**Only child of the 4th ****Hokage, Namikaze Minato. Female version. Allows the character the chance to learn any of Minato's signature or unique jutsu.**

**Perfected Construct**

**Since this avatar was created based on Naruto's Oiroke form, it is a perfected version of Naruto's female form. The character grows incredibly attractive, and physically is slightly superior overall to a standard human, giving slight advantages in almost every area.**

"Well damn. So this character is basically a super soldier?"

"**I wouldn't go quite that far. It says it's only a slight increase, meaning that it is probably a negligible boost. However, that combined with my chakra should boost the enhancement. And besides every little bit helps, and just a little bit of speed can be the difference between life and death."**

"I see. Is it weird that I'm seriously considering changing my gender?"

"**Kit there are surgical operations that are carried out every day to do the same thing, for the simple reason that people want to. Maybe it's just the fact that I'm a giant mass of chakra, and therefore can select my gender at will, but I really don't see it as all that strange."**

"Given the advantages…I think I'm going to go with this avatar this time through. I mean, for the most part it won't affect my ability to form friendships with the guys if the other girls of my generation are any indication, and it will actually improve my other capabilities. The only downside is I don't think I'm just going to suddenly adjust and like guys, which might get awkward. Then again I'm GOING to save Sasuke this time, and Sakura-chan will almost certainly pick him."

"**Sounds like a plan kit."**Naruto mentally 'chose' the Naruko avatar and found himself drawn forward and into the body. **"Now, the last step is through this door. This is as far as I can go for now, since I'm going to be dropped into my own body. When you pass through here you will arrive in a room where you can choose what options you want to use for the next life. After that you will be dropped into your body. Don't freak out if you can't contact me straight away. You forfeit all training once you enter the new timeline, including the ability to speak with me. You will need to train to regain that ability, just like all your jutsu."**

"Wait so even if I remember the jutsu I can't use it?"

"**Nope, you will need to be retaught the jutsu. All your skill with the jutsu will remain, but you will need to re-master the activation of the technique. Take ****Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)****and the ****Uzumaki Naruto Rendan (Uzumaki Naruto Barrage)****for instance. The moment you learn shadow clones you can use the barrage, since it's just an application of the technique, but you need to be taught to create shadow clones."**

"Got it. Well then, I guess I'll see you in a couple of years!" Naruto waved jauntily at the fox, and despite feeling slightly nervous, strode confidently through the door.

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**A/N:**Another chapter done! As far as update speed goes I am going to say a chapter every other week is what to expect, so everyone will be pleasantly surprised when I do better than that. That being said, I may also horribly fail that when it comes time for finals week.

**Edit (11/14/14): **I fixed up some spelling and grammar, and I reworked the stats system a little. I also deleted some things that really weren't necessary. No real major changes here.


	3. Arrival

Talking: "Teme has duck-butt hair!"

_Thinking: 'Shut up Naruto!'_

**Demon/Summon Taking: "Hmm, I can see the resemblance …"**

_**Demon/Summon Thinking: 'I wonder if uses a jutsu for that?'**_

**Justus: Duck-butt no jutsu!**

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3\. Arrival

Naruto walked through the door, which disappeared behind him, into another room looking like it was from a bunker. The room was long and relatively thin, and looked to be a library. There were racks for hundreds of scrolls, organized into two sections, the section on the right had a sign hanging over it with the word 'Modifiers,' while the left hand section had a sign that said 'Items'. However they were all almost completely empty.

'According to Kurama this is where I can choose the options for my next life. So the right hand side must have options that aren't physical, and the left must be physical things I can bring in to give me an advantage.'

Thankfully the scroll shelves had no backing, meaning she could easily spot the few scrolls on the shelves. She first walked to the two on the left, about a third of the way into the right hand section. Reaching the scrolls she saw that below each scroll, engraved into the wood, were engraved words: 'Kushina's Inheritance' and 'Minato's Inheritance.' It was all Naruto could do not to start cry then and there.

He reverently removed Minato's scroll, and opening it began to read aloud. "Placing this scroll on the active shelf will guarantee the revelation of Naruto's father's identity the night the protagonist becomes a gennin, and for them to receive their inheritance at that time." Tears were leaking out of the corners of her eyes now. She had only learned of her father's identity during the battle with Pein, and following the destruction of the village Danzo had been left in charge. Naruto had had it made EXCEEDINGLY clear to him by Kakashi-sensei not to reveal who her father was to Danzo. This meant that she had been unable to discuss her inheritance until after Tsunade-baachan's revival, and at that point everyone had been readying for war, and it just hadn't seemed appropriate. Then Sasuke went and killed her.

Opening her mother's scroll, she saw that it read exactly the same, substituting mother for father. This was a chance to regain some link to her parents that had been lost to him in her previous life. Finally stopping her tears, she wiped her eyes, and clutching the scrolls to her chest walked to the other section of the library. Reaching the last visible scroll, she reluctantly pocketed the other two scrolls. Lifting the scroll from the shelf labeled 'Kekkai Genkai,' she began to read.

'Placing this scroll upon the activation shelf will grant the character any one kekkai genkai. Any kekkai genkai is valid, however only one may be chosen. Note that characters who have other kekkai genkai as character traits may use this scroll to obtain a second kekkai genkai, Additional copies of this scroll may be used at the same time (they are available in the Extras: Store menu).

Note that conflicting kekkai genkai will not be valid choices. For instance only one doujutsu can be chosen, you may not possess both the Sharingan, and the Byakugan for instance. Similarly you may only have one body type kekkai genkai (Shikotsumyaku for instance). Note that chakra natures do not conflict, you may possess both Moukuton and Hyoton, for example.'

Naruto dropped the scroll in shock, stunned by the implications. She vaguely registered that the scroll vanished upon contact with the floor and reappeared on the shelf, still caught up in imagining the possibilities. 'ANY kekkai genkai in the world. This is Orochimaru's wet dream. Actually this whole set up is, but still.' Naruto idly wondered if she could create her own kekkai genkai as she picked up the scroll again, still in awe.

Naruko walked down to the opposite end of the room from where she entered. On the end wall she found another rack of scroll shelves and another doorway. The shelf was different however, in that each level only had room for three scrolls, and out of the five levels four were protected by cabinet doors which were securely locked. 'Probably another option to buy in the store' Naruto surmised.

She placed each of the scrolls she was carrying into slots on the open shelf. As each of the inheritance scrolls touched the wood, a glowing green kanji for 'Active' appeared beneath them. As the kekkai genkai scroll touched the wood, a small window appeared: Select Kekkai Genkai was written across the top, with an entry field beneath it. Naruto reached her hand out to the window and as her hand came into contact with the screen, the words: Kyōshin no Chi (Blood of Resonance) appeared in the entry slot.

_'So I can create my own bloodline limit. There's got to be limits on that though, so that probably isn't as kickass as I made it up to be. I'll have to experiment.'_ Below the words was an 'accept' button which Naruto pressed her hand to, and the menu disappeared and a green 'active' kanji appeared. Naruto smirked at the idea of Sasuke's reaction to Naruto having a bloodline ability. She couldn't decide if he would be pissed or shocked. 'I'm not gonna let you fall that far this time. I'm gonna save you before the darkness even gets to you.' Naruto clenched her fist in determination, and strode through the final door.

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Waking up in her new life was hardly what Naruko expected. Then again she wasn't really sure what she expected in the first place. The first thing she remembered was waking up one morning in the orphanage, and only having time to note her bed held the name 'Uzumaki Naruko' before she was thrown out of the building.

That much was expected, she was never welcome in the orphanage during the day. As she ran down the road away from the village she glanced in the door of a store and read the date off a newspaper. Running the numbers she was able to figure out that she was roughly 3 1/2.

Naruko ran through the village ignoring the hostile stares with practiced ease. She was significantly slower than she was used to, but that would come with time, and she needed to reestablish contact with Kurama fast. She may not be the smartest ninja ever, but even she knew that information was important. Going forward she needed access to the one person who could help her understand this game.

Naruko was just reaching the edge of the village when the rock smashed into the side of her head. She barely heard the scream of "Get out of here bitch!" around the pain. She tried to resist as she was roughly picked up by unfamiliar hands, but her child form was too weak to resist a fully grown adult.

Suddenly she dropped about a foot before being caught far more gently and cradled to a man's chest. Naruko groggily looked up at her rescuer as she regained her senses. Looking down at her was a Dog masked ANBU, with gray hair that swept unevenly to the left side of the man's head. Naruko didn't need to see the transplanted Sharingan to realize that she was staring at her past/future mentor Hatake Kakashi.

"Are you alright Naruko-chan?" the silver haired ANBU asked. Naruko nodded slightly, still having a slight headache. She looked around and saw around a dozen civilians spread out on the ground, several clearly in severe pain. "Why don't we move to somewhere a little less exposed."

Kakashi leapt onto a nearby roof and crouched down, setting Naruko back on her feet. He immediately began checking her over for wounds. "What were you doing running off like that? You know Hokage-sama wants to make sure you are safe, and ANBU can't do that if you run away all the time.

Naruko looked down at the ground. She had completely forgotten in her rush to get to work that she had ANBU guardians until her fourth birthday. The same year, coincidentally (or not), that she would be removed from the orphanage. "S-sorry Inu-san. I was just eager to get out today, and I forgot." Naruko stammered out the first excuse that popped into her head.

Inu sighed "Well where are you going today?" he asked Naruko.

Inside her head Naruko was panicking. She really didn't have an explanation for why she was in a particular hurry. She looked down to hide the panic on her face.

"Did something happen at the orphanage?" Kakashi asked gently, unwittingly giving Naruko her way out.

"No. Not really anyways. Just, sometimes I just wanna get away," Naruko trailed off, passing off her reluctance to answer as not wanting to admit to any weakness. "I was just going to the woods, to be alone for a bit."

Kakashi for his part simply nodded sadly. "Why don't I bring you out to a place out by one of the training grounds? It's a restricted area so it's less likely you'll be bothered."

Naruko simply nodded her acceptance and Kakashi gripped her shoulder before they vanished in a **Shunshin**.

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After arriving in a clearing a good distance from the main village, Kakashi vanished back into his over watch position leaving Naruko to her own devices. She settled down in the shade of a tree, leaning her back against the trunk and arranged herself into a meditative pose.

While she had originally not accessed her mindscape until much later (and had to be thrown off a cliff to manage it) she had subsequently learned to access her mind by meditating, and eventually on the fly. Therefore she figured she should be able to access her mindscape earlier this time.

However, an hour or so later, she became infuriated with her lack of progress and slammed her fist against the trunk in agitation. Suddenly unable to sit still she leapt to her feet and began pacing. Forcing herself to calm down she took several breaths, and rallied her self-control. _'The hell is this! I mastered __**Senjutsu **__for crying out loud, and now I can't even sit still for an hour!?' _

Realizing she was becoming upset again she forced herself to calm again and realized that it was probably related to the game. _'I'm not able to bring any of my abilities to the past with me, and since the avatars mentioned stats, including mental ones, this is probably based on one of them.' _

Pleased at the deduction despite how obvious it felt, she settled back down to resume meditating. _'I learned the disciple once, I'll just have to do it again! And besides I really don't have a better plan for contacting Kurama.'_

However by the end of the day, she had been forced to get up and run simply to burn off energy several more times, and had yet to contact Kurama. And to top it all off her most recent attempt was interrupted by a loud 'DING!' noise. She opened her eyes to see a game window floating in front of her:

**Through intense meditation you have increased your self-discipline:**

**Wisdom +1**

'_Great,' _she thought. _'The game is taunting me!' _She growled in frustration and allowed her head to fall backwards, banging off the tree.

She closed her eyes intending to take only a short break, and wished this task was easier. She imagined herself simply falling backwards, through the tree and into her mindscape…and a moment later felt herself lying in several inches of water. Without opening her eyes she screamed "SON OF A MOTHER FUCKING BITCH!" which seemed humorously incongruent coming from the body of a not quite 4 year old girl, and caused Kurama to burst out laughing.

Rising from the floor Naruko found herself once again in her mindscape, complete with Kurama trapped in his cage. She ran forward, leaping up onto Kurama's snout and hugging it. "Missed you fur-ball!" she called out.

"**Hmph!" **Kurama shook his head, dislodging her, before retorting **"Damn it stop calling me that already!"**

Naruko simply giggled before climbing back to her feet. "Good to see you too! So, we need to figure out a plan," Naruko settled down cross-legged in front of the massive fox. "There isn't much we can do till we go back to Nami no Kuni though, so lotsa training?"

"**Hold up there. I know your goal for this whole thing is to try and make things turn out better for your friends, and that a lot of your troubles started when Sasuke started losing it," **Kurama interrupted. **"However, that isn't the only issue that cause trouble for your friends. Remember that score screen you saw when you first died?"**

Naruko nodded. "Yeah stupid thing was rigged I tell ya!" she shouted, pouting.

"**Gaki for most of your life you BARELY survived every major battle by relying on me. But opinions aside, it listed a score for each segment or 'arc' of your life. You were then ranked as Failed, Successful, or Complete. A Failed segment meant you failed your primary objective but were able to continue, while a Successful meant that you met your goals. However you only received one Complete, which indicates that you were able to achieve the best possible result."**

"So what you are saying is that there is something I can do to improve almost every segment of my life? Including the time prior to my placement on Team 7!" Naruko exclaimed, finally realizing what he meant.

"**Finally the gaki makes a breakthrough. Now we need to figure out what those things we can improve are. The things that the game would have picked up, aren't necessarily things that you would have known to interfere in the first time through, so we can't rule anything out that way. However we should focus on big things, events with far reaching consequences, simply meeting friends wouldn't qualify.' **

Naruko scrunched her face in concentration. "The only major events that took place anywhere near me that I can think of are the Uchiha Massacre…and the Hyuuga Affair."

"**Either or both of those are possibilities," **Kurama commented. **"I would plan on interfering with either or both, if only to improve things for yourself, further down the road." **

Naruko, however was distracted by this as a new message appeared in front of her:

**Childhood Arc: Bonus Quest Initiated**

**Hyuuga Affair**

**Primary Objectives:**

**Ensure Hyuuga Hinata is not captured!**

**?**

**Secondary Objectives**

**?**

**?**

Naruko gave a look to Kurama that clearly said: 'Details please!' **"Quests** **are split into three categories: Story Quests, Bonus Quests, and Missions." **Kurama paused to collect his thoughts. **"Missions are the most common and don't really affect much. They provide rewards, but won't really affect the course of events, things like D-ranks. Story Quests advance the story to the next stage, moving events forward, while Bonus Quests are the middle ground. They don't advance your story, but they do affect events, giving you a chance to improve things for the better."**

Naruko nodded her understanding. "So the Hyuuga Affair would resolve itself without my contribution, but it's a chance for me to improve things, hence bonus quest." Kurama nodded. "Then we are going to need to start getting stronger. From what I remember of the Hyuuga affair, it should be happening sometime in the next six months and there was a jounin involved." Naruko nodded and rose to her feet. "That message before, about increasing my Wisdom, what did it mean?"

"**All of your attributes, be they physical or mental are represented by a numerical stat. These can be increased in four primary ways. First you can level up by gaining experience, which will grant you points to distribute between your stats as you see fit. Secondly you can train, as you did before, which will provide you with benefits to your stats, but takes time. Third you can find certain items or events in the world that will provide you one off benefits."**

"How will I know to spot them?" Naruko interrupted.

"**Ehh, you won't necessarily. They aren't just floating symbols or something, but scrolls of lost knowledge for instance that would increase your intelligence." **Naruko nodded her understanding. **"And your last option is to find trainers that can train one of your stats in exchange for ryo. This will still take some time, but it is significantly faster than training by yourself."**

Naruko nodded thoughtfully. "Given that no one respects me yet, I doubt I could find a trainer, and gaining experience probably requires combat?" Kurama nodded to the question. "Which leaves me with training and exploring for these stat boosts…Given the time frame its probably best if we focus on solo training the stats we are going to need most. How do I see my current stats?"

On que the menu popped into existence in front of Naruko, startling her and causing her to fall backwards. Kurama snickered at her, causing her to send him a glare. She then reviewed her stats.

**Uzumaki Naruko:**

**Level: 1**

**HP: 250/250**

**CP: 10100/10100 (Locked)**

**Str: 6 (4)**

**Agi: 5**

**Vit: 25 (24)**

**Int: 5**

**Wis: 6**

**Lck: 50**

**Status: Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Heritage, Malnourished,**

***Stats shown with () are modified. The value in the parenthesis is the effective value**

Naruko looked over them. She realized that she needed to start eating better, as she had been starved almost up through the academy in the previous timeline, and her abysmal physical stats made her want to get up and go train non-stop for the next six months.

But the part of her that had survived the fourth shinobi war made her stop. As much as she wanted to return to the point where she could shatter mountains with her bare hands, she knew much of that had come from Kurama's influence, and besides she knew there was no way she could train to a Jounin's level in six months.

All of which meant that she needed to rely on her wits for the Hyuuga Affair, and her mental stats were just as bad. Naruko sighed, "Looks like I'd better train my Intelligence and Wisdom. I guess there's a lot of meditating in my future." And with that depressing thought she left the mindscape to go find food, reminded by her status that she hadn't eaten all day.

'_**Stupid brat forgot to ask how to train her Intelligence…some things never change.'**_Kuramathought wryly, before settling in for a nap.

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Outside of her mindscape Naruko rose and stretched, her muscles stiff from sitting still for so long. Across the clearing she heard someone clear their throat. Standing there was the Sandaime. "Hello Naruko-chan." He said kindly.

Internally however he was worried. Kakashi had sent him a message with one of his hounds, notifying him that the usually hyperactive Naruko had been forcing herself to sit still all day, only moving around when it seemed she was forced to by her boundless energy.

"_And through all of this, she would get frustrated every so-often, like she was trying to accomplish something, but for the life of me I can't figure out what…"_ Kakashi had reported to the aging leader when he arrived.

"Jiji!" Naruko squealed and practically flew into him. Sarutobi Hiruzen was one of the people she missed the most when he died, having been the first person to truly acknowledge her. "Why are you out here old man?" She asked after a moment.

Now Sarutobi was slightly taken aback, though not surprised, putting down the enthusiasm to Naruko's pent up energy. She had been sitting still all day after all. "Am I not allowed to visit you?" he asked with a smile.

"No, I just don't usually see you very often…" Naruko said a little sadly. She was also praying that she had actually seen him recently. She wasn't sure if she had or not, and that would have made things awkward. She didn't remember visiting very often before she was thrown out of the orphanage however.

The Sandaime sighed tiredly. "That's true, and we did get together last week. The truth is your guards were a little worried. You've been acting very strangely today." He knelt down in front of her to look her in the eye. "Is something troubling you Naruto-chan?"

'_SHIT! What do I tell him!?' _Naruko looked away and bit her lip as if thinking to buy time.

"Naruko, it's okay. Just tell me," Sarutobi said, misinterpreting her obvious stalling as not wanting to tell him.

"**Kit, tell him you were trying to train to be a ninja. That you saw some ninja's meditating and you wanted to try training as well!" **Kurama helpfully piped up inside her head.

"I WANNA BE A NINJA!" Naruko practically shouted. She slapped her hands over her mouth in embarrassment. She hadn't meant to shout, but to her relief Sarutobi just chuckled. "I saw some ninja's meditating and I wanted to try and be like them…" she elaborated quietly.

"Naruko…" Sarutobi started. "Why do you choose to be a ninja?"

Naruko looked confused for a moment. She was conflicted. On one hand she wanted to tell him her true reason, the reason she had returned to the past: to protect those precious to her. On the other hand she had no reason to have developed that view yet, and she had yet to even make friends with any of the people she wanted to protect.

"Do you seek strength for yourself, or for others," Sarutobi continued seeing her hesitance. "In Konoha we believe in what we call, the Will of Fire. The Will of Fire is the ideal that we are a family, that everyone in Konoha will take care of one another. That our dreams and hopes pass on to the next generation when we die, so there is no fear in giving our lives for one another."

Naruko nodded slowly, she remembered Jiji explaining this to her in her past life. It, combined with Haku's belief in protecting one's precious people formed the foundation of his nindo. "I think I understand."

"Do you Naruko. Think on it, because if you choose to walk the path of a ninja you will be swearing to uphold it, and all it entails," Sarutobi smiled. "But for those of us who understand it, it makes itself worthwhile all on its own." Naruko nodded once. "Now, why don't we get something to eat? I hear you haven't eaten all day, and I bet your stomach is going to start complaining soon!"

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Naruko and Sarutobi were walking back through the Shinobi residential district to get to the market where the majority of the restaurants were, when Naruko suddenly realized where they were. Turning left at the next intersection, she tugged on Sarutobi's hand and pointed. "Jiji! Let's go there!"

Sarutobi looked where she was pointing. To his surprise, she was pointing at Ichiraku Ramen. _'Minato and Kushina always did love that place, and I'm sure Naruko will as well.' _He turned to look down at her. "Are you sure Naruko?"

Naruko nodded enthusiastically and ran off towards the booth. When he caught up Sarutobi eased himself onto the stool next to Naruko. "Ne, Jiji? You're paying right? So I can have as much as I want?" Naruko asked.

Sarutobi hadn't really been thinking about it, but realized Naruko probably didn't have much spending money. Still, given how much ramen her mother could put away, it was probably best to put a limit on her. He turned to look at her as he replied, but as his eyes fell on her, he realized she was giving him her best puppy-dog look. He felt something seize control of him, and found himself agreeing to pay for her meal. '_Damn! Are we sure Naruko doesn't have a bloodline? Possibly a doujutsu?' _He mentally made a note to look into that later.

Ichiraku Teuchi laughed from his place behind the counter, as Naruko bent the most powerful man in Konoha around her finger. "Ahh so you must be the infamous Uzumaki Naruko I have heard so much about."

Naruko suddenly looked at him warily. "Yeah, what of it?" Part of her hated treating Teuchi-ojisan like this but she couldn't act familiar with him just yet.

"Nothing, just amazed you can cause so much ruckus. You're rather tiny," he chuckled.

Naruko muttered something about not her fault under her breath. Unable to hear her Teuchi raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Not my fault I can't get enough to eat," she muttered darkly, only slightly louder.

Teuchi's face darkened at this, and quickly declared: "You will _always_ be welcome here Naruko. You're ever having difficulties, run right in here and I'll stick up for you." Naruko looked gratefully at the man, tears welling in her eyes.

It really meant something to her to hear that. Knowing that the old man would still look out for her even in another life was incredibly moving. "Thanks ojiji-san!" she managed to get out shakily. Sarutobi simply watched with a small smile, as he watched Naruko finally find someone to trust.

"You know I have a daughter just a few years older than you, I bet you would get along famously," Teuchi said as he brought them their first bowls. "She is at school at the moment, but I'll be sure to introduce you next time you come through."

"I'll look forward to it then! Itadakimasu!" Naruko said as she dug into her food.

An hour later Naruko had consumed no less than 13 bowls of ramen, and Sarutobi's wallet was significantly lighter. Naruko sat back with a sigh, seemingly finally satisfied. She looked around, before asking "Jiji can we come here again?" she looked up at him pleadingly.

He smiled over at her. "Of course Naru-chan, though I think next time I will be limiting the number of bowls I buy for you." Naruko pouted adorably at him. "Now I think I can dodge my paperwork for a bit longer if we go for a bit of a stroll. Shall we?" He asked as he paid Teuchi.

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At the end of the day, after the Sandaime had walked Naruko around the park and played with her a short while, they stopped at the top of the Hokage monument, watching the sunset. Naruko knew the moment had arrived. It was time to make her intentions known to the Hokage.

"They might be precious few, but they are precious." The Sandaime looked at her in confusion. "The people who show me kindness. There aren't a whole bunch of them yet, but they are precious to me. I want to be there for them, as they are for me." She looked down at her tiny hand, and clenched it into a fist. Looking out over the village, she continued. "I want to protect them so they never go through what I have. That is my reason to be strong. And I want to protect this village, so that they'll see me with something other than hate. I will show them what it means to be precious to me, and understand that I'm not a monster!"

"It might take a lot to get them to see things your way, Naruko-chan…" the Sandaime didn't want to discourage her, simply for her to be realistic.

"Then I will be the greatest guardian this village could ever want!" Naruko wasn't backing down. She hadn't in her previous life, and she sure as hell wasn't going to start now.

"…The way you say you want to protect the village, it sounds like you want to be a Hokage," Sarutobi was almost brought to tears at the girl's sentiment. 'After all they have put her through…'

"…Whatever it takes," was her only reply.

The Sandaime Hokage allowed a few quiet tears to run down his face as a bittersweet smile appeared. He was awed by the quite determination and strength behind the young girl's voice. Standing at her shoulders he could easily imagine the shadows of two of his greatest friends, one blond, and one redheaded. 'They will remember this day in history, as the day a Hokage was created.'

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A/N: So I'm not dead! That's news. Sorry this has been on hiatus for so long, but I am now in the process of once again rewriting this. Part of the reason I haven't updated in so long because of developing a condition that has made it felt like I was having a bad allergic reaction coupled with minor sleep deprivation 24/7. That combined with school, and work, and life in general has led to 0 motivation to write. I am now being medicated for this however, so that will likely be vanishing soon, so (hopefully) I will start updating regularly again.

That being said despite many setbacks and rewrites I WILL at some point finish this, unless I at some point stop caring about writing entirely, which is HIGHLY unlikely. And yes many authors have said that and failed to uphold it but I really can't prove anything here.

Finally I am looking for someone willing to beta-read this, particularly with an eye towards dialogue, I have been having some difficulty with it so if anyone is interested I would appreciate it.


	4. The Hyuuga Affair

Naruko finally stopped sprinting as she reached the middle of a training field which the Sandaime had agreed to allow her to use. She sat down cross-legged and rapidly sank back into her mindscape.

It was the morning after she had arrived back in time and she was going to begin her training. First however, she wanted to check in with Kurama, to see about the best way of training her stats, hence her visit to her mindscape.

"KURAMA WAKE UP ITS TRAINING TIME!" she shouted as she materialized right on top of said fox's nose.

Kurama, having been rather peacefully asleep was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of his warden, and jumped upright spluttering. Naruko, for her part was flung backwards into one of the bars of the cage, which she bounced off of, with no harmful effect, since this was all inside her mind.

"**DAMN IT GAKI!" **Kurama slammed his paw down on Naruko's form, her head poking out between two fingers. **"I am not some house pet to be jumped on whenever you feel like it!" **He seethed.

Naruko's expression immediately morphed into one of contrite submission. "S-sorry Kurama."

The biju sighed **"I think coming back in time is affecting you more than we thought," **he stated gruffly.** "Between the drop in your effective intelligence and wisdom stats, as well as being pre-pubescent again, particularly as the opposite gender is probably doing horrible things to your self-control and judgment." **

Naruko nodded sadly. "Yeah. And since the mental portion of me now recognizes you aren't an enemy, the emotional part of me is making me act like a hormonal girl."

"**Well there is a fix for that, and I believe that is why you are here," **Kurama stated. **"Training, specifically for your mental stats. I am a guide, and therefore can tell you how things work, but I was not given knowledge on how specifically things will affect you."**

"Huh?" was Naruko's intelligent response.

The fox sighed again. **"I cannot tell you which stat would be best trained to increase your mental state. Wisdom increases your ability to make deductions, so you might be able to tell which ideas are bad increasing by increasing your judgment. Intelligence however will increase your mental fortitude allowing you to better resist anything that might affect your judgement."**

Naruko 'Ahhh'ed' in understanding and looked thoughtful. "Since I don't have shadow clones, I can't do both, which means we have to pick one…I think…I think we should train my intelligence first." At Kurama's questioning look she explained. "First off wisdom will only allow me to know something is a bad idea, but not resist the temptation of doing it anyway. If I learned anything from my first time being drunk, it's that knowing something is a bad idea and deciding not to do it are two VERY different things.

"Secondly intelligence, from what I recall of your explanation, denotes my ability to memorize and learn things. Wisdom helps me make better choices based on that knowledge. At present my ability to learn and retain knowledge is practically nil, and I don't have a lot of data about the situation I memorized previously, which means I am going to have to get information, which requires intelligence, before wisdom can be helpful."

"**Well reasoned. I concur." **Kurama grudgingly admitted. **"Now to train intelligence, simply requires attempting to learn and memorize information. In a word studying." **Naruko groaned as she left the mindscape.

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_Later That Day_

Naruko was wandering the village, slipping from back alley to back alley. She knew she wasn't going to see the Hokage for at least another several weeks, and any attempt to speak to her ANBU guardians was ignored. That either meant that the ones that hated her were on duty, or they were absent, both of which meant if she got mobbed she was in trouble.

None of which was any help with her current situation of having no place to study since the librarian had promptly thrown her out as soon as she arrived. So here she was attempting to find her way home without getting spotted since she really didn't feel like getting beaten that day. Growling in frustration, she slammed her fist into the wall beside her, before taking several deep breaths. _'Remember Naruko, you were better than this. You can get there again, just keep control.'_ Repeating this mantra in her head she regained control of her emotions, without launching into a tirade like she once would have.

It was then that she noticed the brick her fist had impacted pushed in slightly. Pushing a little harder she felt it give slightly, then click. A plate of earth rose in front of her, revealing a metal contraption. Glancing around she confirmed the alley was empty before kneeling down to examine the device.

**Puzzle Lock Version VI:  
Difficulty: High  
Danger: Low**

Something about this struck her as odd. Why was the difficulty so high if the danger was low? She sent a query towards Kurama to get his opinion.

"**Probably an age thing. Locks like this pose a danger by releasing jutsu stored in seals as traps at those who fail to disarm them properly. Looking at this one, it hasn't been charged in at least 10 years." **Kurama explained **"Seals, particularly ones made by those relatively inexperienced, leak power over time and eventually lose all function."**

"So it's still difficult to unlock, but its fangs have dulled. Got it!" Naruko acknowledged "How did you know that anyways?"

"**I was sealed into Uzumaki Mito, for around a century remember? I learned much from watching through her eyes. While I might have no need for puny human techniques, it was still more interesting than nothing."**

Naruko nodded, that seemed fair. She still had no clue how to get through the door though. She tilted her head to the side. Remembering her experiences in the other-world that she had visited after death, she mentally summoned a help window:

**Congratulations on finding your first mini-game!  
Within your life you will find many instances of prizes that can be  
earned by completing challenges. These challenges can differ greatly,  
and can have time constraints, enemy action, or other effects to vary them!**

**Puzzle Lock: The goal of puzzle lock challenges is to find the correct sequence of  
mechanisms to trigger the door's opening. Beware: triggering incorrect mechanisms  
could trigger a trap!**

'_Well that was both informative and useless,' _Naruko thought irritably. _'So I have to push the right buttons to open this thing and there are consequences to getting it wrong.' _Examining the device further, Naruko saw that it consisted of a number of circular tracks, which slid in and out of one another, to form several smaller tracks within the smaller section. Held on these tracks were a number of moving segments. Several had kanji written on them, and on further inspection Naruko realized that several of the smaller circles had matching Kanji written on them. _'So logically, I have to get the segments that correspond to the circles into those tracks in order to get the door to open.'_

The trouble with that idea was that pushing on one segment caused _all _the segments to move, meaning Naruko couldn't just push them where they needed to go. As she fiddled with the lock, one of the symbols (which was the kanji for fire) fell into the ring for 'wind', and a fireball was promptly spat at Naruko. Scrambling back, Naruko glanced her status screen and saw that her health had decreased by only 10 hit points from the glancing blow. She let out a shaky breath. _'From the angle of that shot, if that fireball had been full sized, rather than weakened, it would have incinerated anyone in this alleyway.' _Whoever made this thing _really _didn't like visitors.

Getting back to work, Naruko reversed her last move, and went back to studying how the whole thing moved. That was when she noticed that the symbols were slightly out of order from how they were before. Water was now on the other side of Earth…Which meant she had somehow affected their order. Casting her gaze around she realized that each of the smaller circles held different numbers of segments, meaning that if she loaded a symbol onto one she could hold it there for a number of cycles until it was where she wanted.

Naruko continued to play with the thing for the next several minutes, and almost half an hour later she had finally gotten them all into the right order, but their spacing was wrong, so she spent another 15 just trying to get them spread out so they all entered the rings at the same moment. She wasn't _sure _that was necessary, but she didn't feel like dodging more fireballs than was strictly needed. Finally with a last 'click' the symbols all slid into their correct rings, and the lock unlatched swinging upwards:

**Puzzle Lock Completed!  
Difficulty: Hard!  
Wis +2, Int +2**

'_Well that is…convenient,'_ Naruko thought as she lifted the trap door upwards. Looking down at dark passage way below her she fired off a thought at Kurama. _'Any ideas on not dying the spooky tunnel?'_

"**Don't go in the creepy tunnel?" **he suggested.

'…_that sounds boring.' _Naruko replied and leapt into the tunnel.

Naruko landed on a dusty floor and promptly fell on her ass, as her ankles screamed in pain. Without chakra to reinforce her joints, or the intense conditioning she got as a shinobi, even a short fall could be debilitating. _'Shit, keep forgetting I'm a small girl!' _Apparently Kurama thought the absurdity of that statement was hilarious and chuckled in the back of her head. Of course being a titanic demon fox, it came out far more menacing than amused, which in no way helped Naruko cope with what she saw when she looked up.

When she finally figured out that she was staring at a decomposed, partially dissected _human torso_, she promptly threw up. Recovering somewhat Naruko stood back up and stepped into the room, a laboratory she surmised, proper. It was rectangular with several tanks full of an unidentified liquid against the far wall, and the short passageway leading back to the exit Naruko had dropped into. All along the walls were racks of tools and instruments, most likely used for the experiments that took place here. The main space of the room was taken up by several operating tables, thankfully only one of which was occupied, and which Naruko was now doing her best not to look at.

As she crossed into the room properly, a ding sounded and a message appeared.

**Secret Discovered! One of Orochimaru's Lost Labs!  
Labs discovered (1 of 10)  
When Orochimaru was forced out of Konoha he was forced to abandon much of his work.  
Due to his paranoid nature, many of his workrooms are well hidden, and were never discovered  
by the leaf after he left. Find them all to get a special reward!**

Great so there were more of these places waiting for her to stumble across. After giving the place a cursory examination, she found little of any value to her at the moment. The key exception to that was a scroll, that when she touched it had prompted a window to appear:

**[Orochimaru's Experimental Record] Value: 0  
Orochimaru's records of his experiments. Turn in to the Hokage as proof of discovery. **

Based on that discovery she figured that if she was going to get anything out of this, it would be by reporting this to the Sandaime, so she turned and climbed back out of the hole and turned towards the Hokage tower.

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Hiruzen was NOT happy. He had been returning to his office after handing out the day's missions, when he had spotted Taka, one of the ANBU supposed to be guarding Naruko, out of uniform and mask, goofing off with others outside the window. Furious, he had immediately dispatched additional ANBU to both drag Taka off to T&amp;I to find out WHY he thought it was acceptable to abandon his post and to find and guard Naruko. That was when the news that had truly made him angry came in:

ANBU couldn't find Naruko. It was like she had just dropped out of Konoha. He had attempted to use his crystal ball to locate her, but all he saw was a dark fog, which he knew from past experience only showed up when he was attempting to look for something concealed by a jutsu. Immediately jumping to the logical conclusion, he had deduced that Naruko had been kidnapped and began sending tracking teams to pick up her trail around the edges of the village.

His office was a hive of activity, but there was little good news. No trails had been detected around the village, which meant highly skilled infiltrators. Or enemies within the village. Neither prospect was particularly appealing. It was as he was reaching this conclusion that the number one suspect inside the village walked into his office.

"I heard the Jinchuriki was kidnapped. This wouldn't have happened if you let me train her, -" Shimura Danzo stated.

"Naruko is not a weapon to be crafted! She is a three year old girl, deserving of a childhood!" the Sandaime refuted almost automatically.

"-but I am here to offer any aid I can in locating her." Danzo finished as if the Sandaime hadn't said anything. "She is an asset to this village and I wouldn't see her lost needlessly, even if you are preventing her from reaching her full potential." It was an old argument between them, and not one that would be resolved any time soon. Danzo would simply wait and when Sarutobi finally stepped down as Hokage, he would be able to craft Naruko into a blade which would ensure Konoha's dominance for decades to come. Her happiness was a small price to pay for that.

It was into this glaring match that Sarutobi's secretary's voice carried. "I'm sure he'd be happy to see you," she was saying.

"Are you sure? If he's busy I can come back later, Hokage is a stressful enough job as it is." Sarutobi and Danzo's eyes widened in unison. That was Naruko's voice.

They turned towards the door as the secretary pushed door open and escorted Naruko into the room. "I'm sure seeing you will take a _load_ off his plate," she said with a giggle.

"Thank you Akira-chan," said Sarutobi as he was already halfway across the room. "Naruko where have you been!?" he interrogated. She was filthy, covered in grime and what looked suspiciously like specks of dried blood.

"I found one of Orochi-teme's bases," she said simply.

Sarutobi spluttered at the irreverent name for one of his former students. Even if he was a traitor, he was still a Sannin and people tended to be wary of calling the Sannin names. Danzo immediately replied: "Preposterous. They were all destroyed following the traitor's escape."

"All the ones you could find maybe. Here," she handed her Jiji the scroll. "I found that down there. It was pretty well hidden, I only found it 'cause I punched part of the activation trigger in frustration."

Glancing at the first foot of the scroll, Sarutobi could immediately tell that it was legitimate. "Why don't you tell us the full story Naruko?" he requested.

Several minutes later she was winding down the story: "…and then I came straight back here."

Sarutobi nodded thoughtfully. Upon hearing the location of the base, he had immediately signaled several ANBU to secure the base. The last thing they needed was a civilian wandering in there. He was currently trying to think of a way to properly reward Naruko. He couldn't just pay her as a mission, she wasn't even an academy student yet. "Well I think you have earned a reward," he started. He was thinking of setting up some kind of special food account for her so she could get more of the ramen she seemed to enjoy so much.

If Naruko had realized that she probably wouldn't have said anything, but as it was she spoke up. "Could you maybe get me access to the library?" she asked quietly. "I want to be ready for the Academy, but the librarian won't let me in to study…"

"That is not a reward Naruko. That is addressing a basic privilege of Konoha citizens which has been denied you," ground out Sarutobi, doing his best not to explode. "Neko-chan?" said ANBU appeared before him. "Kindly educate the misguided librarian." Wordlessly the ANBU vanished from the room.

'_Yay! Today was actually pretty successful! Now I can get into the library to train!' _Naruko thought cheerfully. Out loud however all she said was "Then I'm good really. Wish I didn't have to deal with the meanies at the orphanage, but…" she trailed of and shrugged as if to say 'what're you gonna do?'

Sarutobi however immediately changed tracks in his mind. Normally he would never allow such a small child to live on her own, but he figured since she would have ANBU supervision it might be alright. And if she was being harassed at the orphanage, then it really couldn't be much worse for her there. He smiled down at her as he said: "How would you like your own apartment Naruko?"

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And so the next month and a half passed for Naruko. She was soon moved into her new apartment which was fully furnished by the ANBU which had purchased it. She wasn't sure if it had been the same as last time but this time she was able to identify several pieces of furniture grown by Tenzo's **Moukuton **techniques, which might explain some of how the ANBU always knew when her house was getting invaded.

She spent the majority of her time in the library, usually seated at a table near one of the doors, so she could periodically get up and sprint around a little to burn off her insane amounts of energy, something she had gradually tapered off doing as she trained her statistics. She had spent hundreds of hours studying and had eventually hit a plateau where she just wasn't increasing her stats fast enough to feel worthwhile, somewhere around the 15 point mark. At that point however she was down to only having to get up and run around once around lunchtime. However, without finding something to accelerate her training speed, training her intelligence didn't seem worthwhile at the moment.

So she switched on to meditating. As she spent more time meditating she gradually saw her Wisdom stat increasing. It was only about a week later however that she hit that same plateau of success, where it took more than a week to gain a stat point rather than a day or two. She did notice that the difficulty seemed to jump every five points or so, and exponentially at that. She mentally thanked her boosted intelligence for that deduction.

She had been reviewing her stats and what she had been studying when her wisdom came back into play. She realized that she hadn't really been studying any one thing in particular, she had just been doing as Kurama had said, reading and memorizing information. The trouble was though, she didn't _understand_ any of it. She was going to need to start with the basics and work her way up to more advanced topics. That was when she went back and started studying specific topics (her first choice was cooking, since the shinobi archives were still off limits to her, as she wasn't in the Academy yet, and she wanted to make better Ramen. That was when two things happened: first, she started getting more points again, and secondly she developed a new skill:

**{Cooking}: Active, Crafting, Lvl: 01, 0.00% CP: 0 [BASIC]  
The ability to prepare food for consumption. Success is based on mastery of cooking, mastery of recipe used, and quality of ingredients. **

It was relatively simple and vague, but part of her understood that was a good thing. That meant it applied to a lot of things. So she went and picked up a recipe for **Ramen**, and started practicing at home to prepare her own ramen. She knew she would have to learn to make more variety sooner or later but she was less than 4, so sue her!

The other major thing that came up was when Naruto realized that she was going to have to start thinking about things like she was in a game. She had played few in the past, but they had easily indicated to her that there was a major disconnect in between how they interpreted the world, and how reality worked. Since reality (for her at least) now worked somewhat like a game, she realized she might need to start treating reality slightly differently. So she resolved to read several guides to those games and compare them to what Kurama knew they could expect. There had been one gem that had helped her come up with a plan to deal with the Hyuuga Affair quest:

_*In video games, particularly those in which strategy is more prominent, there exists a technique known as kiting. Kiting is the practice of engaging an enemy and immediately falling back in such a way that the enemy follows. This can serve a number of purposes. In RTS games it allows players to pull units that are unsupervised out of position, allowing them to be engaged by a weaker force individually. In RPG games it is used in a similar manner. Many players will take on quests above their level, and kite the necessary quest targets back into guards or other neutral NPC's, and thus getting them killed. While this causes the loss of any EXP or loot drops from the enemies themselves, it does allow the player to complete quests early, often providing them with a significant lump sum of experience, multiplied by a difficulty factor, and access to reward loot quite powerful for their level.*_

It had been this excerpt that lead Naruko to the conclusion that this was going to have to be her strategy for the foreseeable future. While she knew she could _become _the kind of fighter that could terrify her opponents, she wasn't there at the moment, and that meant that she was going to have to resort to relying on others. Fortunately for her, she had a reputation as a prankster, and the Hyuuga had a compound full of guards. This meant Naruto had a prank, and a plan.

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It was finally time. Two and a half months had passed since Naruko arrived back in time and she had spent that time as well as she could:

**Uzumaki Naruko:**

**Level: 1**

**HP: 250/250**

**CP: 100100/100100 (Locked)**

**Str: 6 (4)**

**Agi: 5**

**Vit: 25 (24)**

**Int: 21**

**Wis: 16**

**Lck: 50**

**Status: Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Heritage, Malnourished,**

***Stats shown with () are modified. The value in the parenthesis is the effective value**

**{Cooking}: Active, Crafting, Lvl: 15, 43.72% CP: 0 [BASIC]  
The ability to prepare food for consumption. Success is based on mastery of cooking, mastery of recipe used, and quality of ingredients. **

**{Stealth}: Active &amp; Passive, Utility, Lvl: 35, 19.01% CP: 0 [BASIC]  
The ability to remain undetected without expending chakra. Encompasses chakra suppression, silent movement, and concealment. Passive mode will not hid oneself from active detection, but instead partially suppresses the user's chakra to hide their true strength. Active mode can be activated to attempt to hide from active detection, as well as to conceal evidence of one's passing. **

The {Stealth} skill had been created when she was attempting to hide from a passing mob a month or so previously, and the young Jinchuriki had immediately thrown everything into leveling it. It would be instrumental to her plan. Overall she had spent roughly two weeks leveling up her Int, before switching to her Wis. She spent two weeks on that before having her breakthrough and switching back to Int. A further two weeks in the library had netted her all she felt she was going to get, and when she had discovered her stealth skill, she had thrown her all into mastering it.

Earlier that day, the Kumo ambassador had arrived to much fan fair, which Naruko had observed from an alleyway. Once she confirmed that he would be staying with the Hyuuga that night, she moved off to secure the materials she would need for her plan, namely and ungodly number of eggs, and a significant amount of string, as well as some tacks. She had also reviewed the quest with Kurama and gotten the rundown on what he believed the question marks had meant.

_Flashback_

_**Childhood Arc: Bonus Quest**_

_**Hyuuga Affair**_

_**Primary Objectives:**_

_**Ensure Hyuuga Hinata is not captured!**_

_**?**_

_**Secondary Objectives**_

_**?**_

_**?**_

"_So what do you think the question marks are?" Naruko asked Kurama one night as she stared at the quest prompt._

_**Kurama grumbled about asking the obvious. "They represent objectives you should try and meet, but which you haven't discovered yet," He yawned. "Most story missions will not have any primary objectives unknown, since they are usually the entire reason you are in that region, but bonus objectives are just things that you might be able to do to improve things." **_

"_Right but what are _these_ question marks?" She asked. "I mean there isn't really a good way to plan to do something that I have no idea what it is!"_

"_**Well the primary object is something that happened last time, and we just aren't making the connection that it is an objective." **_

"_So, something like subduing the cloud jounin?" with a ding, the first question mark filled in. 'Huh, well that was easy, and I already have a plan for that.' "Then the bonus objectives…ensure that the jounin isn't killed?" a second ding and another question mark was replaced. _

_End Flashback_

And so the quest now read:

**Childhood Arc: Bonus Quest**

**Hyuuga Affair**

**Primary Objectives:**

**Ensure Hyuuga Hinata is not captured!**

**Detain the kidnapper**

**Secondary Objectives**

**Ensure the kidnapper is not killed**

**?**

Thankfully Naruko had a plan that should (hopefully) complete all of the known objectives without too much hassle. She was simply going back to one of the age old truths of infiltration missions: discovery meant death. On an infiltration mission one was intentionally putting themselves into a hive of enemy activity, and being discovered meant you were cut off and outnumbered. So Naruko planned to do a little infiltration of her own, and allow herself to be 'discovered' around the same time the Kumo spy should be attempting to make his move. Which would lead to the whole compound being on high alert, and eventually his capture. Since he would be staying only the one night (shinobi weren't really big on trust, even when 'at peace') even neutralizing him for one night _should _be enough.

Naruko slipped into the compound using a tree as a make shift ladder. Once on the other side, she blended into the shadows, using what she remembered of the guards patrol patterns to avoid their periodic byakugan sweeps. She made a mental note to tell Jiji to get them to switch them up. Most people believed that the Hyuuga compound was impossible to infiltrate since the byakugan could see through most buildings.

But what most people didn't know was that a relatively simple sealing array which absorbed the chakra traces the Byakugan was sensitive to, blocked the fabled doujutsu. And since the main branch liked their privacy, their house and several others had such seals scattered over them, which rendered infiltrating the compound down to a matter of timing one's movements so you were always behind such a wall when the guards were looking. Naruto had created a mental map of all of them when he was pranking the Hyuuga regularly, and Kurama had helped him dredge it out of his mindscape.

Naruko had just finished setting up her prank in the first few buildings when she spotted a second shadow moving across a courtyard. She could see him easily enough, but he was sheltering behind a byakugan proof wall. Looking around she realized that she didn't have a way to get 'detected' without making it painfully obvious she was doing it deliberately she was infiltrated far enough into the compound that she obviously knew the secret to getting around undetected. She had planned on accidentally waking up one of her victims, but that was no longer an option. She didn't have time to reach one before the jounin escaped.

Then she noticed that based on his direction of movement he would have to hide behind the wall she was behind next. Looking behind her and biting her lip she saw the tree she had once used to escape after a prank. She could be over it in a hot second, but that didn't solve the problem of the escaping jounin. She took stock of her materials hoping for inspiration, but all she had was eggs and string. No jounin was going to fall for a tripwire made with white twine, and eggs pretty much only useful as ammunition for pranks or if her opponent was made of paper…

Naruko's head snapped to her left. There, stuck to the wall was the seal, painted on _rice paper_. Seals were incredibly fragile she remembered, and all it took was a single messy stroke to keep them from working. She grinned rather foxily.

Then she egged the seal and ran.

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Hyuuga Hiashi glared after the man being dragged off towards T&amp;I. The Kumo ambassador had apparently been attempting to kidnap his daughter, when he had been detected by the guards and stopped. Elite though he might have been, it was still nearly 30 to 1, and he had been subdued even before he arrived. Something about the events of the night bugged him however, as the jounin had nearly made his escape, using the privacy walls as cover, before being detected. Why had he slipped up then?

Not that he was complaining mind you.

His brother walked up to him. "You are probably going to want to see this, brother," he said shortly.

He decided NOT to ask why he was covered in egg at the moment, at least until his brother lead him over to the wall where the jounin had been captured. The seal was _also _rather completely covered in egg. "I believe we had a second infiltrator tonight…" he said.

"Indeed, but where is she?" neither needed to speak as to who they were referring to. Uzumaki Naruko was already quite infamous around Konoha. "If she was here why didn't we find her?"

Instead of answering, Hiashi activated his eyes and surveyed the alleys around the compound. He spotted Naruko concealed within one, watching with ill-concealed satisfaction as the jounin was dragged away. Smirking, he replied. "I suspect we won't find her because she left after finding better prey." He indicated to Hizashi. "I suspect we all would have woken up like you tomorrow morning if this had not occurred. Instead we woke up now, and the wall took the eggs intended for us."

"If this is true, then why did she not come forward? She would be a hero," he asked.

"But would she be received as such?" he replied. Finally realizing his brother was watching someone he also activated his byakugan and quickly spotted Naruko.

"Hmm. And if she knew she would receive no recognition, why did she act?"

"Why indeed? I rather like what this says about the girl. It seems the next generation will bear watching." He paused in thought. "I think it best we concealed her presence tonight, as it would favor her not for it to be discovered. We shall have to signal our appreciation another way." He smiled as he watched Naruko finally turn away and begin the trek back to her home. _'But find a way to show it we shall…' _he vowed to himself.

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**Childhood Arc: Bonus Quest**

**Hyuuga Affair**

**Primary Objectives:**

**Ensure Hyuuga Hinata is not captured! [Success]**

**Detain the kidnapper [Success]**

**Secondary Objectives**

**Ensure the kidnapper is not killed [Success]**

**Do not allow yourself to be linked to the event [Success]**

**Quest Complete! All Secondary Quests Complete!**

**Rewards (Significantly increased standing with the Hyuuga)**

Naruko smiled contently to herself as she walked back into her apartment, slightly startling her ANBU guard who hadn't even seen her leave. _'One down, and I'm just getting started!'_

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**A/N**: LONGEST CHAPTER I HAVE EVER WRITTEN! Also: holy crap this came out better than the first time. By like a lot, at least in my opinion. I am now working on writing the intermission between the Hyuuga affair and the Uchiha massacre. Shouldn't be too long a chapter so expect it in a week or two. With this Kami's Reward is officially off hiatus/abandonment. (Whichever I put it down as but I really don't remember atm…)


	5. Stats, and Starting the Academy

The next morning, Naruko pouted as she stared at her status screen:

**Uzumaki Naruko:**

**Level: 1**

**HP: 250/250**

**CP: 100100/100100 (Locked)**

**Str: 6 (4)**

**Agi: 5**

**Vit: 25 (24)**

**Int: 21**

**Wis: 16**

**Lck: 50**

**Status: Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Heritage, Malnourished,**

***Stats shown with () are modified. The value in the parenthesis is the effective value.**

She was standing in the clearing she was planning on using to train, but she had run into a problem. She had no idea _what _to train. In her past life she had almost always had a sensei to teach her after she graduated from the academy, and prior to that she had been a mess, since she really didn't know what she was doing.

Now she had the system to guide her but she didn't know where to focus. She had asked Kurama what she should train in and he had simply told her to figure it out herself. His only advice had been to address her weaknesses. Which had of course led her to improving her chakra control, which had been stymied once again.

(Flashback)

"…**Sooner or later you are no longer going to have someone dedicated to training you, and you will need to learn how to train yourself, brat. And the cyclops will have to split his time between you and two other brats as well, so knowing how to manage your own training will be important then as well!" **Kurama finished his rant at her.

Naruko looked down, frowning as she was forced to acknowledge that the offensive, foul-tempered fox was correct. _'Do you have any advice on how to set up a training regimen then?'_

Kurama growled **"I'm a giant fox, what makes you think I would train even remotely similarly to you? And besides I never really had to train, idiot, perks of being one of the most powerful beings in existence." **He sighed. **"The one thing I can tell you is to train your weakest points. Anything you are weak in your opponents will take advantage of, and that will get you killed. It's how your father sealed me, by taking advantage of things I couldn't counter. Your mother's chains and his fuuinjutsu primarily."**

Naruko wasn't really sure what to train in then, since she didn't have _any _combat ability at this point, she didn't really have a weak area to train. However every teacher she had ever had told her that she needed more chakra control, but she couldn't train that since she hadn't unlocked her chakra. But maybe it was affected by a stat?

Most of the stats were fairly self-explanatory but she wasn't sure exactly what each of them affected. Strength was obviously her muscles which would benefit taijutsu, and agility was her speed, also affecting taijutsu, but she didn't really know what vitality would affect, past her stamina. Similarly intelligence and wisdom probably related to her ability to think clearly and memorize information, but she didn't know if they would affect her jutsu in any way.

'_Neh, Kurama?' _she asked. _'Is there a stat that would affect my chakra control?'_

Kurama grumbled. **"Not by itself. Chakra control is a skill, and most skills have a stat draw that they improve from, but none of the stats will do anything directly," **Kurama sighed. ** "And before you ask no I don't know which stat, though I would guess wisdom or intelligence."**

'_Then do you know what stats will affect which type of jutsu?'_

"**Annoying brat! Broadly speaking, strength and to a lesser extent agility modify taijutsu, agility and to a lesser extent strength affect bukijutsu, intelligence and to a lesser extent wisdom strengthen genjutsu, and Wisdom and to a lesser extent intelligence affect ninjutsu. Now go figure this out, and let me sleep!" **The fox finished with a roar.

(Flashback end)

That had been 20 minutes ago and Naruko still wasn't sure where she should be training. In her previous life she had fought primarily as a close range ninjutsu using brawler. Her strategy largely consisted of using whatever means possible to get close to her enemies and slamming them with a **Rasengan**, and later hitting them from range with a thrown **Rasenshuriken**. And technically before that her strategy was just a massive barrage of **Kage Bunshin**.

Going this route had a number of problems though, considering that anyone that could match her physically would be able to dominate her in a fight, and furthermore she didn't want to wait to learn **Sage Mode** again to get a ranged attack.

Thinking of **Sage Mode** also reminded her of the fight against Pein where she had been completely reliant on natural energy to match the Akatsuki's leader physically. The brief period she lost that boost she had nearly died, and only the intervention of the Geezer Toad had saved her.

However going with a taijutsu focused build had similar issues with attacking from range. Short of opening the gates, pure taijutsu lacked a powerful ranged option, with a few notable exceptions (the Hyuuga's **Gale Palm** came to mind).

None of which helped her figure out where to train. So she started looking at things she could and couldn't do. Firstly she knocked Genjutsu out the window, as it had always been a fact that she would never have the control to use high level genjutsu. Conversely Ninjutsu usually benefited from his massive store of chakra, so those were an effective option for his ranged attacks. Which lead him to needing an effective melee option. Strength for taijutsu was an obvious choice, and his other option was agility which Kurama said would help him with bukijutsu.

'_Taijutsu is cool, I mean look at Gai and Lee, those two are monsters. But they rely on speed as much as strength, so I would have to train up my speed anyways which is adding another stat to my load.' _Naruko hummed in thought. _'Speed on the other hand…Weapons might be useful in close combat, particularly if I can get one with some reach. And there are close combat ninjutsu that can amplify my damage in hand to hand if it's necessary, so there's no real loss.'_

Having decided, Naruko closed her Stats window and got ready to start running. Before she started however, she heard a ding and a new game window appeared.

**Well Done! Planning ahead and organizing yourself increases your Wisdom!  
Wisdom +3**

Naruko grinned and started to sprint.

**(I AM A LINE)**

A few days later Naruko was walking towards the library to do some additional research. She had spent a solid three days doing sprints to increase her Agility stat. She had started to worry about hitting the plateau at around 15 points, and was looking for a new way to train her agility. She was hoping that there would be a better form of training that would net her a few more points in the same way that focusing her studying had helped with her intelligence.

As she walked however she pondered just how effective her training was. She knew that she had increased her stats by several points and knew that she was significantly faster than she had been, but without knowing how her stat points scaled against an actual shinobi's abilities she had no idea if she was doing well or if she needed to seriously step up her game. _'No pun intended,' _she thought.

She looked over at a group of ninja leaving on a mission, their client striding after them. Genin she assumed, given that three of the four had headbands but no flak jackets, and one was in a full jonin uniform. She stared at them trying to learn what she could about them, to draw out some information that would help her compare herself to them.

The genin she was staring at seemed physically rather pathetic by what she remembered, his physique reminding him of Sakura's when they first graduated. _'May she NEVER find out I thought that,'_ she thought with a shudder. It was the eyes that caught her attention however, darting about rapidly, his gaze turning to take in everything around him, memorizing and learning where everything was. _'His intellect must be high,' _she thought, remembering what Kurama had said about intelligence affecting memorization.

**Ding! Through continuous observation a new skill has been created!**

**{Observe}: Active, Sensory, Lvl: 1, 00.00% CP: 0 [BASIC]  
The ability to determine information based on sensory information. Uses all available senses.  
Additional information available based on level.  
Additional information available based on supplementary skills. **

Grinning, Naruko turned her new skill on the genin she had been observing:

**Yamazaki Hirotada:**

**Level: 47**

**HP: 3737/3737**

**CP: 2644/2644**

**Str: 38**

**Agi: 37**

**Vit: 53**

**Int: 122**

**Wis: 68**

**Lck: 89  
Additional Information:  
Status: Unknown  
**

Naruko gave a low whistle as she looked at the genin's attributes. Certainly she had been right and his physical attributes had been pathetic, only slightly better than her own mental attributes which she had been training. His mental attributes were nothing to scoff at however, his Wisdom being double her own, and his Intelligence 4 times greater.

She assumed his 'Unknown' status would become available as she leveled up the skill and learned more to call on. Deciding to try and get a sense of whether his stats were average or not she turned her gaze to the other members of his team. The Kunoichi was her next target.

**Muranaka Yui:**

**Level: ?**

**HP: ?/?**

**CP: ?/?**

**Str: ?**

**Agi: ?**

**Vit: ?**

**Int: ?**

**Wis: ?**

**Lck: ?  
Additional Information:  
Status: Unknown**

Naruko growled in frustration. She had gotten exactly what she needed for once, and now it turned out to be broken. A bunch of question marks summed up exactly what she knew already. She tried it on the other ninja and got the same result, learning only their names. She glared at the ground in front of her as she continued towards the Library. _'What was different after the first time? Can it only be used so often? But that wasn't mentioned in the description…' _

Pondering her problem Naruko continued to walk along, and tried her ability again, this time on a civilian woman carrying a bag of groceries:

**Nishioka Yayoi:  
Level: 28**

**HP: 672/672  
CP: 987/987  
Str: 19  
Agi: 25  
Vit: 16  
Int: 21  
Wis: 26  
Luk: 30  
Additional Information:  
Status: Unknown **

She frowned despite the skill's success. Trying it again, she got all of another civilian's information, the only unknown being his status. Shaking her head in confusion she continued on towards the library.

**(LIKE MY BROTHERS, I TOO AM A LINE)**

Naruko was no more enlightened when she arrived. She had spent the trip there **Observing **Everyone she came across, and had even managed to level the skill up twice, but she was no closer to learning what had made the question marks appear.

She had however developed a sense of the stat levels of civilians. They were almost all in the 20's for level, with a stray 30 or 32. Their stats were at a similar level typically in the high 20s, low 30s, with one stat significantly higher than the others, and one significantly lower.

She had originally come to the library to look for different types of agility training, but puzzling out this new skill might be just as important. Information was power, and given that this seemed to give her information from a vacuum, it could be critical if she could understand it.

Having decided Naruko wandered over into the leisure section of the library, rather than head to her usual table in the non-fiction section. Walking over to the computer she pulled up the catalog and looked for the books she would be needing. Locating their call numbers, she pulled down several gaming guides she had used to study gaming strategies previously, as well as a treatise on game mechanics and math.

A short while later, she found what she thought she was looking for, in the treatise.

'_In many games it is possible to leave the areas recommended for a player's current level, and venture into higher level zones. This is not generally advised as there are a number of ways this is discouraged. Not only will the enemies be more powerful, they will frequently gain multipliers when attacking low level players, and there are occasionally utilities required to safely navigate the area that they player may not have access to yet. When a player accesses such an area they will often see enemy's levels and information shown as a skull or similar symbol, showing that they are currently far outside the player's ability to handle.'_

So she couldn't see the level and stats of those ninja because they were too powerful for her? That…made unfortunate sense. The average genin was worth a dozen or more bandits, and she was an untrained child. Any genin worth their headband would destroy her without even noticing.

Sighing at the disappointing result, she got up to go find a book on speed training. Moping about the skill wouldn't modify it, so she would just need to get stronger! As she walked towards the non-fiction section of the library, she didn't notice the pink haired girl watching her curiously.

Naruko settled down with her selections a few minutes later, including a training manual written by none other than Might Gai (she was going to start with that one), and a number of civilian self-defense technique scrolls. Shinobi taijutsu scrolls would have better options but she wouldn't have access to them until she graduated, if then. Ninja were very protective of their skills.

She was engrossed in reading about Gai's methods of increasing strength and speed. He openly admitted in the preface that this was an incomplete method, but that it was written to be open even to students in the academy hoping to specialize in taijutsu. He did give a number of useful training tips about ways to put together or modify training regimes to maximize your benefit, without ever actually giving the knowledge of how to set up a shinobi level routine.

The real gem however came when he suggested using training weights. At that Naruko slapped a hand against her forehead. _'I've claimed to be friends with Lee for how long, and I forgot that?' _Weights would almost certainly help with her agility training, and possibly with strength as well at the same time, for a side benefit. Now where would she get weights…

So caught up in pondering where she would find the training weights she would need, Naruko completely missed a small child walking up behind her and looking over her shoulder.

"Whose Maito Gai? And why are you reading that?" Naruko jumped out of her chair and darted away from the voice, while spinning to face the speaker. Pink hair and emerald eyes greeted her, as Sakura looked inquisitively at her. She then looked slightly nervous, "I-I didn't mean to startle you, I won't bother you…" she said sadly.

"No! No it's fine, just was lost in thought," Naruko quickly replied, while looking around in fear. Sakura she knew was harmless, and probably would be for a good amount of past when it was reasonable to be harmless in their profession. No she was more worried about her parents. One of them was a chunin if he remembered correctly…

"Oh, okay," Sakura said timidly but slightly hopefully. "So who is Maito Gai, and why are you reading this? I saw you reading the game manuals over there, but they don't really seem connected."

Calming slightly now that Sakura no longer looked like she was about to cry, though still wary that a parent might be about to descend on her, Naruko replied. "Maito Gai is one of the premier jounin of Konoha, specializing in taijutsu. I'm hoping to join the academy and was looking for training tips. The game manuals were just to satisfy my curiosity about something."

Sakura nodded. "That makes sense. Do you really have to train though? That doesn't sound like much fun, and we can't even apply to the academy for years!"

"W-well, yeah but training takes time. If I start now, maybe I won't be the dead last of the class when we start!" she explained, using logic that Sakura would probably respect. She had started to stutter when she saw a woman he recognized as Sakura's mother looking thoughtfully at him from around the corner.

When Haruno Mebuki had seen her precious daughter speaking to the demon child, she had nearly swooped in to snatch her daughter away. As a shinobi she understood the basics of sealing, so she knew Naruko wasn't the nine tails itself, but she also knew that jinchuuriki were historically unstable. But then she saw something she hadn't expected.

Naruko was terrified of her darling little girl. No not of Sakura, of _her_ she realized. In that moment, as she watched the so called demon girl calming her daughter, she realized that Naruko was just a scared little girl. And it wasn't an act because she _saw _the moment Naruko realized she was there and the fear that crystallized in her eyes. She stepped around the corner, "Who is your friend Sakura?" she called out kindly.

Naruko was a little surprised that she wasn't immediately dragging Sakura away. Was it truly possible she didn't recognize Naruko? No she was a ninja, and old enough to be Sakura's mother, she definitely knew.

"This is, um… I'm sorry I forgot to introduce myself," Sakura said sheepishly. "I'm Haruno Sakura. What's your name?"

"Naruko Uzumaki," she said meekly. God _damn _it_, _she was sick of having to act timid and walk on eggshells with everyone.

"Well it's very good to meet you Naruko," Mebuki said and knelt down while holding out a hand for Naruko to shake. Naruko quietly shook it, ready for the woman to hit her, but she didn't. "I was surprised to find a small child here, usually kids your age like running around outside. I thought my little Sakura-chan was unique."

"I like reading," Naruko said. _'And that's not even false. Huh, imagine that…'_ "They have a lot of useful information, and cool stories," she explained, thinking of _The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi._ "And I don't have a lot of friends so outside gets a little boring." She said looking down.

"Well I like reading too! So we can be friends! I get Mommy to bring me here every week, so we can meet up then and read together, and talk about books, and, and –" Mebuki cut her daughter off there.

"Will you be here next week? Naruko-chan?" Naruko could only nod numbly.

'_THIS DIDN'T HAPPEN LAST TIME!' _was the only thought in her head.

**(DID YOU KNOW I AM A LINE)**

Five or so weeks of meetings with Sakura later, and Naruko had finally given up on waiting for the other shoe to drop. Sakura had shown up with her mother every week and Sakura would sit at a table with her and talk about the book she was reading and what it was about. They were surprisingly advanced for their age, but then Sakura had only ever been second in brains to Shikamaru.

It was that week however that Sakura invited him to go to the playground with her the next day. Naruko had agreed, swayed by the honest hope in Sakura's eyes. "This is going to be great! I can introduce you to Ino! She's this totally awesome girl I met yesterday, and she's really pretty and brave, and stood up to these bullies!" Naruko sweat dropped slightly, maybe Sakura just had a slightly obsessive personality?

"Alright, alright, I suppose I can take an extra day off from my training," Naruko acquiesced. "Not like I'm getting much done at this point anyways." She grumbled under her breath. She had hit the plateau of points in Agility, and had yet to find a place that would sell her training weights. She had taken to training her other stats in the past week or so, simply to feel like she was still making progress.

"Of COURSE you can. You're really weird, you know that?" Sakura said giving Naruko an exasperated look. "All you do is train, it's no fun. Even when we meet here you read those boring training manuals!"

Mubuki chimed in as she walked up to their table. "My daughter is correct. Taking training seriously is good, but you are four. You won't start the academy for another year at least, and they will help you with training there. You can take some time to enjoy yourself," she advised. "The first several years won't even be testing you on your physical abilities, so you have nothing to worry about."

Part of Naruko wanted to agree with the elder woman, that she DID have plenty of time to work on her skills and get stronger. But another part of her knew that she was planning to interfere in an event that would pit her against _Uchiha Itatchi_ of all people far before she would graduate. "It's not the academy I'm worried about," she grumbled. "But you're probably right," she continued, before either of them could ask what she was worried about.

Knowing she needed to explain her unusual worries for a child she added. "I guess being in an orphan in a ninja village…I kinda assume that my parents were ninja. And if they aren't here, they weren't ready for whatever killed them. I don't want that to be me someday is all."

Naruko really hoped that they bought that. It was even technically true. Granted no onecould really be prepared for a biju but his parents weren't ready for Kurama. And he was worried about not being prepared for Itatchi.

"Oh you poor girl," Mebuki murmured as she gently hugged Naruko. Why exactly, were people terrified of this girl again? "Sakura and I need to get going. But Naruko, enjoy your childhood. All this worry about your future…save it for when you're older. The village will make sure you have ample time to come into your strength." Naruko nodded, then nearly lost her composure at a system message:

**Ding! Through a special action, a new skill has been created!**

**{Acting}: Active, Utility, Lvl: 1, 00.00%, CP: 0 [BASIC]  
The ability to control your mannerisms and voice to emulate another. Improves chances to emulate others. Improves chances to deceive others.**

Naruko was confused. Why had she gotten this skill now? She had already had to trick Kakashi and Sarutobi once to avoid their suspicion. Was it because it worked… _'SON OF A BITCH!' _she cursed mentally. The only reason she could think of why she hadn't gotten the skill for trying to trick the Sandaime was because she must have failed. Which meant he was now suspicious of her training already. She really would have to cut back on her training schedule.

"See you tomorrow Naruko!" Sakura called as she left with her mother. Naruko waved quietly, while mentally cursing. People were catching on to the fact that she wasn't acting her age. If she wanted to keep her ability and foreknowledge under wraps she would have to greatly reduce her training time. Which would be a disadvantage in it's own way. Swearing she wondered what she was going to do, before eventually finishing her reading and going home for the day.

**(AT CHARATER CREATION I CHOSE LINE FOR MY RACE)**

Naruko groaned as she collapsed into a seat at the academy. The school was exactly as she remembered it, though she was a little foggy about specifics this far back. She hadn't exactly spent a lot of time here the first few years. Or any year really, cutting class was far more fun. But the cookie cutter class room was the same as the one Iruka had taught in, with several rows of desks climbing in height towards the back of the room, and with a chalkboard and desk for the teacher. Windows covered one wall, which Naruko was seated next to. Though there wasn't much of a view with a row of trees in the way. Upper years were the ones who got a nice view from the other upper floors.

It was close to two years later, and her first year at the Academy. She COULD have started a year earlier, but that was typically avoided by most families, as they wanted their kids to be kids. Naruko had wanted to start then but knew that doing so would have put her in a different graduating class than the original timeline. Also the Sandaime wouldn't let her.

Sitting down far more calmly next to her Sakura and Ino took the other two seats in her row. After that first outing with them, Naruko had been dragged into Ino's orbit and become a member of her group of friends. A group of friends which became significantly smaller after the parents had found out. Most of the time it was just Naruko, Sakura, Ino, and through her Shikamaru and Choji. Occasionally a child would join them for a day or two before being dragged off by their parents.

In a surprising show of solidarity Ino had stood by Naruko and stayed her friend. Partially due to her father's influence. Haruno Mebuki had _talked _to him about his irrationality concerning Naruko, and convinced him to give her a chance. Soon after he had been won over by Naruko as well, and encouraged his daughter to stay with Naruko since they got along famously.

Probably because Ino was at heart as much a prankster as Naruko. She just used words and gossip over paint and traps. When Naruko realized that Ino had deliberately tricked her into embarrassing herself repeatedly, a prank war ensued which lasted until parents were forced to intervene. Which had shortly lead to an alliance against parental intervention and a fast friendship.

The ANBU now got extremely nervous whenever the two were spotted plotting. Between Naruko's traps and stealth, and Ino's gossiping and manipulative streak no one was safe.

Naruko had not been able to do much training in the intervening years. With the vast majority of adults around her (that didn't despise her) trying to get her to act like a child there was very little she could do to get additional training and as a result her training had plateaued leaving her with stats largely around where the average teenager should be. Phenomenal for her age, but nowhere near what she would need.

But now that she was in the academy all of that should change. Now she would be _encouraged _to train, not treated as weird.

Ino and Sakura however, were about to meet Sasuke, and Naruko was dreading what would happen when they started to fangirl. He was already plotting as many ways as possible to break them from the bad habits they would form.

Just then the chunin teacher for his class walked into the room. Iruka wouldn't be teaching Naruko's class for another several years, when the Sandaime would spot the teachers blatantly abusing her and cleaning house before installing Iruka as the new teacher for her class.

The first time the teachers had been able disguise their hatred of Naruto, which allowed them to sabotage her grades without her knowledge, but this time a far more aware and attentive Naruko spotted the teacher's subtle glare in her direction.

Of course none of the other students noticed, but Naruko wondered if she could expose them early by bringing the sabotage to the Hokage's attention. _'Better not risk it,' _she decided. She wasn't sure what had prompted the Homage to pick Iruka to be her teacher, but she might get someone worse if she messed with things.

After the teacher took roll, he introduced himself. "Good afternoon, my name is Kozuki Tamaki. While in my class you will remain silent while I am speaking, and refer to me as sensei or Tamaki-sensei." After taking a breath, he continued. "For the first few years here at the academy we will be focusing on academic subjects such as history and math, and developing your physical abilities. Can anyone tell me why?"

Naruko almost answered, but realized it would call too much attention to himself. He had had no one to teach him about Chaka, so there was no way he could know the answer. When no one raised their hand, he explained. "The thing that separates a ninja from a common soldier is Chaka," he said, emphasizing the word chakra. "Chaka enables us to reinforce our bodies, and perform almost all of our techniques. Chakra is created by mixing together your physical and spiritual energies, each of which can be studied by increasing your physical and mental abilities. Hence you will be training in both Shionogi arts and mundane subjects to increase both attributes."

It was a fairly standard practice between the academies, as Naruko had learned while talking with ninja from other villages during the 4th Shinobi War. He had often complained about not needing to know when the village was founded, it had been and now existed and that's all Naruko cared about. However, she had been missing the point, even after it had been restated during the Chunin exams. If you had a weak mind, you had less spiritual energy, and therefore less chakra, so it made sense to train one's mind to increase your chakra stores.

Though now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure which of her game attributes chakra was determined by. _'Ne, Kurama? What stat does chakra draw from. If it's a mix of physical and spiritual energies, it wouldn't make sense if it drew on just one.'_

"**It doesn't. Chakra is determined by comparing your total mental attributes, Intelligence and Wisdom, to your physical attributes, Strength and Agility. Whichever is smaller times three, and plus the base 100 everyone has is your maximum," **The fox replied gruffly before cutting the connection. He had been getting more short tempered, and slept more lately. Naruko decided he must be bored, not that she blamed him. She was too.

His explanation made sense though. While many video games used intelligence to determine the energy pool of characters, chakra was a mix of both spiritual and physical energy, so you would need both to make it. By using the lower of the two aspects, the system was effectively ensuring you could create the correct balance.

Naruko was dragged out of her thoughts as the teacher snapped at her for daydreaming. Sakura and Ino both gave her an exasperated look. In time and almost identical, since they had practiced it to annoy her. She had a tendency to zone out a lot when she was talking to Kurama.

"As I was saying, for the first class period today, we shall be working on meditation and unlocking your chakra. We want to get you kids started on this as early as possible, as chakra control can be difficult to learn, and is a critical skill." He sat on his desk in a meditative position before continuing. "Now I want everyone to sit in a position like this. Position isn't critical to meditation, but it can help beginners get in the right mindset."

The students all hopped onto their desks and arranged themselves in as similar a position to their teacher as they could manage. Naruko shifted herself to the left and turned so that she could rest her back against the wall as she meditated. "Good, now I want you all to close your eyes, and breathe deeply and slowly…." Naruko tuned the teacher out. What he was teaching was the basics of meditation, something that Naruko had already mastered.

Slipping easily into a meditative state, she began hunting for the corner of her mind that lead to her chakra. It might have been easier to go through her mindscape to locate the mental representation of her chakra coils, as she could just follow the pipes back to their source, but she already figured she would be one of the first to find her chakra. She had been last time too, simply having as much as she did made it act like a beacon, and this time she knew what she was doing. She just didn't want to draw too much attention, so she was doing it the hard way.

Eventually she found it, a massive floating ball of blue flame, burning so intensely it looked almost white. She smiled as she reached out and touched it, feeling the familiar surge of energy she had missed flowing through her.

She had tried several times to unlock her chakra previously, but the system had prevented her and said that she needed a trainer to help with this. Thankfully the academy qualified.

As she opened her eyes she looked around and spotted several others having already unlocked their chakra. Choji and Kiba, as well as Ino who was giving Naruko an awed look. "Naruko, I can _see _your chakra. How much are you putting out?!"

Cursing mentally, Naruko dialed back hard on her chakra. "I dunno. I just sorta, pulled and that's what came…" Naruko laughed sheepishly as a wave of fatigue washed over her. _'Guess I need to be a bit more careful than that. My control is just as abysmal as last time, maybe a tiny bit better but not much.'_

Ino shook her head. "Only you Naruko, I know Daddy said you had a huge chakra store but that's just crazy. Anyway, go grab a scroll from the teacher, we are supposed to be working on control after this." She said. "The scroll has a couple of tricks on it for the first exercise."

Naruko nodded and walked to the front of the room. "Ahh, got your chakra going already? And quite a bit too!" The chunin greeted her with a friendliness that didn't nearly reach his eyes. "Here you go, he said handing her a scroll. One Naruko noticed didn't come from the pile on the desk. "Read over the scroll and then start the exercise, but don't worry if it takes a while, with as much chakra as you have you might never reach this level of finesse, but the exercise will still help you."

Grinning at the man, despite his probable sabotage, Naruko took the scroll back to her desk and sat down to read:

_Collect a leaf._

_Stick leaf to your forehead._

_Channel chakra to the leaf to make it stay. _

Naruko scowled behind the scroll, making sure to keep her face hidden from the teacher. Schooling her features, Naruko leaned out the window next to her and grabbed several leaves from the convenient tree. And sat back in her tree.

"Naruko? How are you done reading that fast, I started way before you!" Ino asked from her seat.

Naruko faked a confused expression and looked at her. "There were like three lines, how slow a reader _are _you?"

Ino squawked at the insult. "There are several paragraphs you dunce! Let me see you're scroll." Looking it over, front and back, Ino raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Weird. Must be a draft scroll or something that got mixed in. You should get another."

'_Somehow I don't think that will work…' _Naruko thought. Looking at the teacher, she saw he was busy helping another student who had asked for help understanding the scroll. "He looks busy though…Why don't I just follow along with you?" Naruko asked.

Ino shrugged, and scooted over to her so they could pore over the scroll together. Half an hour later and Naruko was boiling. Thankfully the seal had not been loosened at all yet, and was heavily limiting Kurama's chakra, otherwise Naruko might have been in trouble.

'_MOTHER FUCKING DAMN IT! ARRG! SERIOUSLY KAMI D-' _Naruko cut himself off mid swear there, as after she learned that there actually was a Kami, he figured swearing in their name was probably pushing it. _'I spent how many years doing this exercise and shredding leaves and I WAS DOING IT BACKWARDS!' _

In amongst several other chakra manipulation tips, which Naruko had figured out for herself in the previous timeline, albeit years later, was the instructions for _how _she was supposed to be channeling chakra into the leaf. Specifically, she was supposed to be cycling her chakra out around the edges and then pulling it in through the center. All she had been doing had been shoving chakra through the leaf.

Plopping down now that she knew what she was doing, Naruko plopped down into the seat, and picked up her first leaf. Placing it against her forehead, she gently pushed her chakra through the outer edges…and blew the leaf off her forehead.

20 minutes later, and finally Naruko managed to stick the leaf to her forehead. For about half a second, but it was progress. She grinned and grabbed another leaf.

**Ding! Through a special action a new skill has been created!**

**{Leaf Exercise}: Active, Utility, Lvl: 01, 00.00% CP: 5 per minute  
An exercise to train one's chakra control. Allows the user to stick a leaf to part of their body using only their chakra. **

**Ding! As a result of another skill a new skill has been created!**

**{Chakra Control}: Passive, Utility, Lvl: MAX, 00.00% CP: 0 [BASIC]  
One's ability to manipulate their chakra. Control is increased by leveling up various control training exercises. Current minimum chakra draw: 1%**

Naruko grinned, she loved this system, it made everything so much easier to handle. Then she winced when she realized how much she was going to have to level up her control. Based on her current chakra she could pull out at minimum around 800 CP. Based on the pull of the leaf exercise which Sakura could keep up for an hour or too…**Bunshin** probably had a pull of 15 or 20 CP.

Naruko groaned. At least she knew _why _it was impossible this time. Though seeing the [BASIC] tag on one of her skills but not another reminded her to ask Kurama about it.

"**[BASIC] skills are skills which represent the most general application of something. For example, your {Stealth} skill represents your ability to not be detected, but will be modified by skills like Silent Movement, or Hiding, depending on your situation, once you learn them," **He explained when she asked.

Naruko mentally nodded,though she didn't move her physical head as it was currently occupied. _'And I already figured out that active and passive means whether I have to activate the skill or not.' _She thought. _'And I guess the other note is what type of skill it is?'_

"**Ehh you're not wrong. Not completely right either but, you are a dense brat. That is a decent enough explanation though." **Kurama yawned.

Naruko nodded and went back to practicing her leaf exercise until the period ended.

**(I AM MANY THINGS. ALL OF THEM VARIATIONS OF LINE)**

Naruko sighed as she collapsed onto her bed that night. She had spent the entire rest of the day working on the leaf exercise at every spare moment. She had blown straight through the physical exercises, though she was careful not to appear too spectacular, she had already made too many waves. The academic portion had been boring as hell, and when she tried to practice the leaf exercise to pass the time, she had been kicked out by her teacher.

Still despite spending the entire day working on it, she had barely ground out 1% of the XP towards it's first level. She didn't know if that was because she was so bad at it or because it really required that much practice, but it was frustrating. She comforted herself with the thought that she had a couple of years to work on it before anything happened.

**(SOMEONE ONCE TOLD ME I WAS A LINE. THEY WERE RIGHT.)**

**Current Stats: ****  
Uzumaki Naruko:**

**Level: 1**

**HP: 250/250**

**CP: 100100/100100 **

**Str: 19**

**Agi: 21**

**Vit: 26**

**Int: 24**

**Wis: 20**

**Lck: 50**

**Status: Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Heritage,**

**AN: **Yay this is finally done. Sorry for the long wait, but Word was being…difficult is a tactful way to put it. Doesn't really describe the hell it put me through, but meh. Suffice it to say that among other things it deleted the first half of this chapter seven times. And after rewriting the same thing over and over again, you tend to lose interest and have to take a break.

Also yes there is a reason Naruko hasn't leveled up yet. Basically the entire Prologue Arc (Everything prior to graduation) is the tutorial section of the game. As she progresses she will be gaining access to new features of the system to use one at a time. Experience and leveling _should _(should!) be introduced next chapter.

Note 1: On Technology in Naruto – A lot of people complain about the eclectic mix of tech available in the series, but if you actually think about it, it makes a certain amount of sense. For my full rant on this see my profile. Putting this note here so no one flames me about the computer in the library.

Note 2: Side missions will be a thing, explained in the next chapter (probably), and they will be the anime exclusive arcs that didn't impact the story. If there is one you really want to see here, shoot me a message and I will see if I can't work in the most popular ones. I am planning on only doing one or two of them though.

And finally thanks to all the people who have followed or favorited this, despite how infrequently I update. I am not someone who writes because I want approval for my work, but it is still a really nice feeling. Especially reviews, so thanks to you all.

P.S. Sorry if there is some weird typos and stuff in here, I had to type part of this using a touch screen keyboard after my cat spilled water on my laptop. And it likes to autocorrect a bit too much so it may have done something weird.


	6. The Uchiha Massacre

Chapter 6: The Uchiha Massacre

About six months later Naruko was quietly setting up a prank to practice her stealth, annoy an off duty ANBU, and remind the shinobi that the village was in fact NOT always secure.

The academy students had settled into a routine of intensive studies and physical exercise. This had had the side effect of creating several skills for Naruko:

**{History}: Passive, Supplementary, Lvl: 7, 76.41% CP: 0  
Knowledge of historical events and figures. Available information increases with level.  
Enhances Observe on famous figures. **

**{Math}: Passive, Supplementary, Lvl: 8, 15.46% CP: 0  
The ability to perform numerical calculations. Speed and accuracy increases with level.**

**{First Aid}: Passive, Support, Lvl: 3, 15.46% CP: 0 [BASIC]  
The ability to perform basic triage to help with survival.  
Effect varies based on treatment.  
Effect magnitude increased with Level.**

**{Survival}: Passive, Supplementary, Lvl: 5, 44.70% CP: 0 [BASIC]  
The ability to survive away from civilization. Helps with finding food, water, and shelter. **

**{Sealing}: Passive, Ninjutsu, Lvl: 11, 14.98% CP: 0  
Ability to create hand seals quickly and correctly. Sealing speed increases with level. **

Naruko of course had had to deal with constant attempts at sabotage, but she was able to deftly sidestep many of them, so long as she didn't reveal her awareness of the attempts.

After all if they were aware she knew that would just make them try harder, and in a way they were actually helping her, though she hadn't realized that until she and Kurama had started trying to forecast how things would go if they started to make certain changes.

When the question had arisen of what team she would belong too, she had gotten slightly worried. With her greater focus and stats, she had little doubt she would be able to, if not guaranteed to take the top Kunoichi spot Sakura had occupied last time. And as Iruka had explained in the original timeline, the best two students were placed with the dead last to balance the teams.

By that logic, she would be placed with Sasuke and Shikamaru or Kiba. She could deal with either of them, but they would likely antagonize the extremely driven, and very type A personality of Sasuke. Furthermore, she wanted _her _team back, Sasuke and Sakura were like family to her. Or at least had been, before Sasuke killed her.

But with the sabotage, she had an excuse as to why her grades were awful despite her being (now) above average, and she could blame everything on Mizuki when she caught the bastard. Thinking about that, she realized she would have to fail the Academy test as well if she wanted to draw him out. Darn.

She quietly set down the 25-pound bag of rice she had acquired for her prank. Most people thought that the majority of her pranks took place in the dead of night, but that was actually not true. Sure the darkness made hiding easier, and most people would be asleep, but it also made everyone paranoid. Or more paranoid in the case of shinobi.

The fact was that she simply needed a time when people weren't around to set up her traps and equipment, and the middle of the work day worked just as well, if not better, than when people were asleep. And people were less paranoid that way. Since she had overheard an ANBU discussing lunch plans with his Chunnin girlfriend at the tower after he turned in his report for a long term mission, Naruko knew he would not be home for some time.

He had also mentioned some damage to his apartment, and how the window frames holding security seals had become rotten and the seals failed. That he was discussing this in public was a little foolish in Naruko's opinion. Sure it was just his apartment, but if a security risk in one place was aired openly, who said he wouldn't do the same for someplace important like the Hokage tower? Hence a prank.

She finished opening the bag of rice and scooped out a good sized handful. There were several ceiling fans in various rooms. Careful not to spill any rice, she placed a pile on each of the blades of every fan.

Now she just needed a distraction, a smokescreen to hide the real prank. She snuck into his bedroom and started going through his clothes, filling every pocket with rice. Annoying and obvious, a perfect distraction. She then packed up the rest of the rice, surprisingly little, to take home for later. Now he would (hopefully) miss the actual prank when he came home and saw the rice in his clothes.

As she slipped out darting away from the window she exited through, she landed quietly in an alley before calmly walking out of the alley and blending in with the crowd. With that out of the way she began to plan for the next day.

The Academy would be starting on spars, and she would most likely be the target of some kind of sabotage attempt. The issue was that injuries were common during sparring, and so the sabotage would likely be more… vicious. Which meant that she would need a way to avoid potentially serious injury.

The simplest option would be to go to the Hokage and tell him she was worried about the spars. But then would have to reveal that she knew about the sabotage, which she wasn't sure she could explain just yet.

So maybe she could get "sick" that morning and miss the spars? _'Nah, Jiji would send an ANBU medic to check on me, and I'd be stuck.'_ Besides, she would need to spar at some point, so it was better to just get it over with. She was just nervous, and it didn't help that she KNEW the teachers hated her. And not in the way every kid thinks their teachers hate them.

Actually…maybe that could do it. If she went to the Sandaime saying she was nervous, and that she felt like the teachers hated her…sure all kids thought that but most kids weren't Jinchuuriki. Deciding to at least give this a shot, she set off for the Hokage tower.

* * *

The next day arrived with little fanfare. She had spoken to the Hokage, and he had "promised" to send an ANBU to observe, after she explained a bit about the nasty looks from her teachers. A child might not notice sabotage, but she could certainly spot blatant dislike. She wasn't sure, however, whether he was actually planning to send an ANBU to check on her.

The class started as normal, with a lecture on history (today's flavor was the forming of the great nations), until finally the time for spars had arrived. The class filed out onto the exercise field and clustered around the rings.

They would be getting a new group of instructors, each designated to be teaching taijutsu, and would be assigned students based on their skill. In the timeline she had been assigned to Mizuki of all people, with predictable results.

"Alright!" the head of the group of teachers shouted for their attention. "We will be splitting you up so that the instructors can evaluate different matches at the same time. Listen for your name, when you hear it go with the Instructor who calls it. Good luck everyone."

As Naruko listened to the teachers call out the name groups she Observed the teachers. None of them had visible levels, which was expected of chuunin. The only one she recognized was Mizuki, as he had not only been her assigned taijutsu instructor, but also the assistant instructor for the last few years before graduation. Finally, her name was called out as part of the group going with an unknown chuunin.

She Observed him again to check his name, despite not being able to see his stats:

**Makino Koichi:**

**Level: ?**

**HP: ?/?**

**CP: ?/?**

**Str: ?**

**Agi: ?**

**Vit: ?**

**Int: ?**

**Wis: ?**

**Lck: ?**

**Status: Unknown**

She wasn't sure if he was one of her detractors or not, but she would hopefully be able to end her fight quickly, to prevent any chance for the instructor to get her injured. She watched a few of the fights, not remembering any of the combatants. It wasn't as if she didn't like or care about the people she didn't know graduated, but it was simply a matter of them not being her problem. They weren't going to be risking their lives as shinobi in the end, so she wasn't worried about making sure they would be prepared.

Eventually it was her turn to fight, but when her opponent was announced her blood ran cold.

"Uzumaki Naruko will fight Uchiha Sasuke." Several girls squealed at his name, his fan club having started even before he became the stereotypical "cool" guy. She stepped into the ring across from him and returned his grin. She had already written off the idea of ending this quickly. She just couldn't wrap her mind around the idea that he WASN'T her equal. It just didn't gel; they had been competing for too long. She threw a quick Observe at him to see what she was dealing with:

**Uchiha Sasuke:**

**Level: 3**

**HP: 300/300**

**CP: 172/172 **

**Str: 13**

**Agi: 19**

**Vit: 11**

**Int: 18**

**Wis: 14**

**Lck: 10**

**Status: Uchiha Heritage, Sharingan (Locked)**

She suppressed a look of surprise. His stats were (like her own), far above average for their level. He would actually be on par with her physically, though she had a definite edge in stamina. Looks like it would be a battle of attrition.

"Alright I want both of you to make the seal of confrontation, then bow." The instructor told them. They did as they were told, before taking their stances. Naruko did her best to approximate her stance from the timeline, but it had been a few years since she had a chance to really use it outside of performing kata's and it wouldn't surprise her if she didn't get it quite right given the change in body type and size. The fact that she hadn't developed a skill supported that theory.

Sasuke however dropped into a decent approximation of the Uchiha starting stance. He clearly wasn't refined but he at least knew some of what he was doing. After another few seconds, during which the instructor noted their form, he started them "Hajime!"

Naruko allowed Sasuke to make the first move, wanting to evaluate his style. He darted forwards in his excitement rearing back for a wide punch to her face. The form was so sloppy it was almost painful, but it would be effective if it connected. Just as she was about to go for a standard block, something from the lecture the previous day on shinobi combat clicked in her head. _'The key to all warfare is deception, especially for shinobi. The ninja who surprises their opponent, who is less predictable in combat, is the ninja that wins, and survives…'_

And just like that Naruko's prankster half took over. If Sasuke expected her to meet him head on, she would do the exact opposite. Just as he reached her, he threw his punch. It would have been textbook perfect actually if it wasn't for the overdone wind up and horrible telegraphing.

As his arm extended, Naruko dragged her back foot up and forward, allowing herself to fall backwards as she caught his wrist with both her hands. Her raised foot came up and caught Sasuke in the gut as she dragged him onto her foot. As she felt her back hit the ground she brought her other leg up to join it.

Sasuke now overbalanced from the lack of contact and Naruko dragging him forward, found himself balanced on Naruko's feet above her. Then Naruko unbent her knees, let go of his arm, and mule kicked him as hard as she could.

Unfortunately, she had misjudged her strength and Sasuke went sailing into the air, clear over the short dividing wall of the academy grounds. There was a loud crash and the squealing of a disturbed cat, and she winced as she heard him hit the ground.

She turned to look sheepishly at the instructor, rubbing the back of her neck. "Oops?"

He sighed. "Victory by ring out, to Uzumaki Naruko." He darted over the wall to check on Sasuke. A moment later he reappeared carrying a shell shocked but otherwise unharmed Sasuke. She checked his HP and saw she had only taken off about 20 HP.

"Alright, bow and make the seal of reconciliation." After they had both done so, he turned to Sasuke. "You did good, your punch was a bit overdone, but your stance and form was good, so I'm going to recommend you for the advanced class." He then turned to Naruko. "You however, your stance was off balance from the beginning, and while you got lucky with that throw, you had very poor form overall, so I'm going to recommend the remedial class for you."

Naruko scowled but nodded. It wasn't like she could prove him wrong, he was probably right. She would be back with Mizuki after all. Just then however, a partially unexpected event occurred.

"I would disagree." A weasel masked ANBU **shunshin'ed**into the training area. As the swirl of leaves died away he continued. "While your assessment of Sasuke-san was accurate, and he would be best served with more refinement of his existing style, Naruko-san demonstrated excellent adaptation to circumstance. While unorthodox, this is a very good trait. She would be best served by tailoring this into the style she has clearly put effort into, if her stance was any indication. While not perfect it is a worthy starting point, and should not be discarded in favor of the standard Academy style."

While he was saying this the ANBU was glaring hard at the chuunin. While she could not see his eyes, she was able to get the message even from the side. _'Sabotage of this girl will NOT be tolerated.'_

The chuunin turned back to her and bit out "Very well then, she'll go to the advanced class," before continuing to call the next pair of students. The ANBU disappeared in another **shunshin **and Naruko was left to grin to herself.

Ino ran over and hugged her as she stood by the edge of the group beside the ring. "That was awesome!" she gushed. "All that training really payed off. But did you really need to throw Sasuke-kun into a trashcan?" she asked.

"What can I say, I was just taking out the trash," Naruko grinned, as Ino rolled her eyes. "Seriously though that was incidental. I didn't mean to throw him that far, I just wanted to make sure he left the ring."

Ino nodded to that, and they stood there watching a few more matches. Naruko spotted Sasuke watching her from a short distance away, but he didn't approach or look hostile so she paid it no mind. Shortly after that Ino's name was called, along with Hinata's.

"Pfft, this should be easy. That Hyuuga girl looks so timid, I bet she can't even throw a punch." She scoffed. "This is a chance to impress Sasuke-kun!" Naruko winced as Ino ran into the ring. To be fair Hinata never really could throw a good punch, but she was a Hyuuga. She didn't NEED to punch you to mess you up.

She refrained from telling Ino this though, as she was hoping it would be a wake-up call for the girl. Or at least that she could make it one.

After Ino left her side though, Sasuke approached. "H-hi, I'm Sasuke," he said quietly, sticking his hand out to shake.

'_Did…did Sasuke just stutter?'_ Naruko mentally jaw dropped. She shook it off and shook his hand. "I remember from our fight. Name's Naruko." She replied.

"I just wanted to say congratulations on your win. I'm glad Nii-san called that teacher out," he said. "I want to spar you again, that was a neat trick."

"Heh, that was just a bit of improvisation. That looked like a hell of a punch though, glad it didn't hit me." They laughed easily together, and then it hit her. _'Nii-san? Wait that was Itachi!?' _she giggled _'Itachi wears the weasel mask? Talk about on the nose.'_

Around then Ino dragged herself back over to them grumbling, before blushing up a storm, at 'Sasuke-kun' seeing her beat up. "Please tell me you two weren't watching that?" she whispered furiously in Naruko's ear.

"Nope got distracted talking." Naruko made no attempt to stay quiet. "I didn't need to though. You underestimated a Hyuuga of all people in close combat. There was only one way that was going to end and I knew it." She shot Ino a disapproving glance. "You should have known that too, you have even more grounding in the Shinobi arts than I do. One of these days acting like that is going to get you killed. This is why I train like crazy."

Ino looked down in shame, too sore to comment on Naruko lecturing her, or to say she sounded like her mother. "Yeah, I know. But you do so much, and it seems like so much work, and no fun."

"You don't need to do as much as I do, just get into good shape, and take things seriously. You need to approach every fight like it's going to be a challenge or you'll get caught out and hurt. And after a while it actually can BE fun."

Sasuke nodded along with Naruko as she finished, unknowingly firmly cementing that moment as a win for Naruko's anti-fangirl campaign.

"Besides, think of your figure, you could eat all you want and still look good for Sasuke-kun~" Naruko sing-songed at her.

"Naaarukoooooo!" she whined while blushing, along with Sasuke. Naruko just cackled a bit, before getting serious.

"Really though. I don't want to see you get hurt, and we need to start getting ready to be Kunoichi. Things can get rough for us out there, and I'd rather you be the one making things rough for the other guys."

Ino nodded slowly. "I'm going to go apologize to Hinata for badmouthing her. And do you think…I could maybe start training with you?" she asked hopefully.

Naruko smiled and nodded. "Invite Hinata to come too, and I'll see if I can't drag Sakura along." Inwardly she smiled. She was going to make those girls scary by the time they graduated.

* * *

After lunch they had their first class on Ninjutsu, something Naruko was looking forward too with an unhealthy level of excitement. It was probably a bad sign that she felt odd without the ability to shapeshift on a whim.

After she finished eating Naruko practically teleported back to her seat, and sat down, bouncing so fast it looked like she was vibrating. Sasuke, having followed took Ino's usual seat beside her and gave her an odd look. "Excited?" he asked dryly.

Naruko just looked at him and said one word, "_Ninjutsu!"_ before giggling at the dryly amused look on Sasuke's face. After that their Chuunin instructor came in and began explaining the basic's of the **Henge no Jutsu (Transformation)**.

"The henge is a technique which creates a thin, illusionary image around an object which causes it to appear as if it were something else. Typically, this is used on the user as an instantaneous disguise. Note that this frequently won't work on ninja as it is fairly easy to detect if they are paying attention. However, in the midst of battle, it is easy to get distracted and miss this technique, which can throw the enemy off balance. It can also be used on objects such as mission objectives to hide them as well.

"One of the major drawbacks however is that it is incredibly fragile, and can be disrupted by a minute amount of chakra coming into contact with it. Like the amount present in a shinobi's hand for instance. This means that it will frequently break on contact with another ninja."

Naruko frowned. That didn't match up with what she remembered of the technique, having been capable of using her unique variant the **Oiroke (Sexy)** while in contact with opponents several times. She also distinctly remembered being thrown while transformed into a fuuma shuriken at least once.

Which meant she had either done something cool and unique which she would have to try and recreate, or this instructor was so dead set on sabotaging him he would sacrifice an entire class' knowledge of the jutsu. That would have…consequences.

No one had commented on her henge in the past however, which was odd. Then again it was Sasuke who had thrown her, and he was enough of a bastard to not want to admit Naruto had been better than him at something. So it was entirely possible that he covered that up, and pretty much any use of his Oiroke was immediately followed by severe blood loss and unconsciousness so it could be understood if people didn't notice that.

The instructor finished his explanation and wrote the sequence of hand seals on the board. It was the same as she remembered, which was disconcerting. Concentrating Naruko focused her chakra, and began channeling her chakra through her hands as she flashed through the short sequence of hand seals. As she finished the technique she created an image of the Sandaime in her mind.

**Ping!  
Through a special action, a new skill {Henge} has been created!**

**Ping!  
Through a special action, a new skill {Overload} has been created!**

**Ping!**

**By using {Overload} with {Henge} a new skill {Polymorph} has been created!**

'_What?' _was Naruko's only thought. She quickly brought up the skill descriptions for her new skills.

**{Henge}: Active, Ninjutsu, Lvl: 1, 00.00% CP: 30, 5/min  
The ability to disguise oneself with chakra. Creates a thin shell of chakra to hold the shape of the illusion. Can be disrupted by foreign chakra contact.  
Detail improves with Intelligence and level.  
Cost improves with level.**

**{Overload}: Active, Supplementary Lvl: MAX, CP: Varies  
The ability to put more power into an ability than is required. When combined with another technique will supercharge the ability. Costs up to double the amount of the technique it is used on. If the maximum cost is exceeded, the technique will fail. Not all techniques can be overcharged. On certain techniques will create a new, more powerful version of the base technique.  
Boost improves with chakra spent.**

**{Polymorph}: Active, Ninjutsu, Lvl: 1, 00.00% CP: 300, 50/min  
The ability to alter ones form with chakra. Permeates the user with active chakra, which guides the transformation into another shape. Extremely durable, and can only be broken with a concentrated spike of foreign chakra.  
Detail improves with Intelligence and level.  
Cost improves with Level**

Naruko frowned. So she _had _done something unique, though it was at least easy to recreate. The idea that this was so simple to recreate disturbed her however. If it was something so easy to do, why didn't every jounin out there know the technique? There had to be something more to it than that but she didn't know what it might be at the moment.

Shaking herself out of her funk, she activated her **{Henge} **ability. To her mild surprise, her chakra dropped by over 1000 points and her appearance came out sickly, so pale that her skin almost glowed. With a puff of smoke she released the technique.

Ignoring Ino giggling at her failed attempt, she attempted her second technique **{Polymorph}**. Again her chakra dropped by 1000 points, but her appearance was nearly perfect. Though sorely lacking in detail, she was, in broad strokes, identical to the Sandaime. Now it was her turn to giggle as Ino's jaw dropped at the sudden turn around.

"I was just overloading the technique," she explained between laughs. With a determined expression Ino set to try the technique again, and Naruko moved over to give her a hand.

* * *

Time passed quickly after that, with the class moving onto more advanced ninjutsu theory based on the **Henge **technique, and spending a significant amount of time working in their taijutsu classes. To Naruko's surprise (and relief), her taijutsu instructor for the advanced class was actually supportive of her efforts to learn, and had rapidly helped her to create a semi-effective style.

**{Beginner's Taijutsu: Passive, Taijutsu, Lvl: 10, 77.62% CP: 0 [BASIC]  
The basic knowledge of taijutsu. Provides bonuses to all Taijutsu styles, stances, and moves. Allows use of basic punches, kicks, blocks, and grapples, but contains few advanced moves.  
Unarmed damage increased by 11%.  
Blocked damage increased by 11% when unarmed.  
Grapple success increased by 11%**

That wasn't to say he _liked_ her, or enjoyed having her in the class, but he was fair and reasonable. Naruko suspected that he was a pupil or follower of Danzo at some point and saw her as nothing more than a weapon. It irked her, but she wasn't turning down the help.

Sasuke had also been a massive surprise. Since their sparring match he had gone out of his way to be friendly with Naruko, treating her as an equal and rival. It was nice, to finally have Sasuke reciprocate the regard she had always held him in.

However there was always that niggling doubt in the back of her mind, reminding her of what he had become. Right where he had stabbed her.

* * *

As time passed, Naruko grew ever increasingly aware of the threat of the massacre. She knew when it would happen, the date had been etched into the memory of everyone who heard about it. Disasters like that tended to have that effect.

The issue was she didn't know what she could _do _about it. Initially she had begun planning to stop the massacre and save the entire clan, but had curbed that idea when she realized that would leave her with even bigger problems.

The Massacre had been caused by the Uchiha's coup plan, which meant without the Massacre all of Konoha was at risk. It was an ugly solution, but a solution none the less. Without a concrete plan to stop the coup, she had to let the massacre happen.

'_What we really need is more information. All we really know is that Itachi is going to kill everyone in the compound that night. No information on who is involved, or what specifically they're planning.'_ Naruko thought with a huff.

"**Do we have a way to get that information?" **Kurama queried.

"_Not really. We could try snooping around the compound, but I hate to think what they'd do to me if they caught me. And a lot of their defenses require a Sharingan to see, let alone bypass.' _She sighed _'Alternatively we could try looking for information in the Hokage tower, which is worryingly easier to sneak into. Given Danzo's involvement however, I don't know how far I would trust that info.'_

"**So we know nothing," **Kurama replied thoughtfully. Naruko was amazed he was even helping. He had never made any secret of his hatred for the Uchiha. **"Without knowing who is involved, any interference is dangerous. Sasuke is fragile enough after the death of his family, if his last surviving relative encourages him to blame Konoha for their fall…"**

'_He could turn out even worse,' _Naruko groaned. _'So that rules out saving anyone who might be involved, which is anyone who graduated the academy. So everyone younger than Sasuke. Could we just move them? Hide them all until it's over and disguise it as something Itachi did?'_

"**Where would you hide them? And more importantly how would you get them to follow you? You don't know Kage Bunshin yet, and the majority of them have been taught to shun you. Hiding them all just isn't practical."**

'_But we can't just abandon them! We know they're innocent and they're just kids!' _Naruko protested.

"**I'm not saying we can't do anything, just that hiding them isn't practicable. And sadly, sparing the children without an adult left to watch over them might not be a mercy. Sarutobi was able to shield Sasuke because he was one child and if anyone tried anything it would be incredibly difficult to miss. But a crowd? Danzo would undoubtedly do his best to get his hands on more than a few, and you know what he did to Sai."**

Naruko shuddered at the thought of Danzo's 'training' methods. _'Okay so a short term hiding place wouldn't work.' _Which ruled out the plan she had been working on to hid the kids in the evacuation shelters under guise of a drill. _'Which means that the only way we could save ANYONE would be to get someone who does have information involved, but who knows anything.' _

The Sandaime, but it was doubtful he knew specifics. Danzo, but he would be…counterproductive at best. Itachi himself, but he would likely be more likely to report Naruko than anything. Which meant that the only other option would be to get ANBU involved and stop the whole situation and let T&amp;I sort it out in the morning.

But that would lead to too many losses. The Uchiha clan would still be largely wiped out, with their plans exposed they would act immediately, and bring a large number of ANBU with them. And that was before counting for Madara/Obito who would deal an obscene amount of damage on their own.

"**Maybe look at your actual goals again." **At Naruko's mental questioning look, he clarified. **"Why do you care gaki? What makes this disaster so important to you, out of all those that befall Konoha."**

'_Sasuke,' _she answered immediately. Not only was he her friend he was a major player in all of the events that dominated Naruko's past life. He was just that good. _'Irrespective of how I regard him, we need to keep him from turning into a revenge obsessed nutcase again. One crazy Uchiha is bad enough, we don't need him upping the count'_

"**Well then why are you focusing on the event, rather than Sasuke?"**

Naruko opened her moth to point out that preventing the Massacre would be the easiest way to help Sasuke, but stopped herself when she realized what he meant. _'I need to focus on Sasuke then. Unfortunate as it is the Massacre HAS to happen, at least this time. But I can help Sasuke get through it. To start with, didn't Itachi end up hitting him with a Tsukuyomi that night?'_

"**That's what Sasuke claimed at least, and fed him a line about needing to grow up filled with hatred if he wanted to avenge the clan." **

'_Right so keeping him away from that seems like a good idea. Followed right up by MAKING him accept counseling. I doubt he got away without any last time but it would be just like him to just sit there silently.' _

"**And how do you plan to do that?"**

'_Oh I think I have a plan…' _If Sarutobi Hiruzen could see Naruko's grin he would have felt a certain terror only Naruko could inspire.

* * *

"…and THAT was how I managed to prank the Hokage." Naruko finished her story to an enraptured Ino, a _highly _distracted Sakura, and a skeptical Sasuke.

"There is no way you managed to sneak into the Hokage's Office, the most secure room in the Hokage Tower, the most secure building in Konoha, and replaced the Hokage's favorite book with a dictionary and exactly half his pens with ones filled with invisible ink. Especially not without being caught." Sasuke sighed. "If you wanted to skip out on training last night you could have said so, no need for elaborate stories about why you were in detention. Again."

Naruko pouted at the lack of faith in her skills. She had trained especially hard to get her stealth skills to a high enough level for that prank:

**{Stealth}: Active &amp; Passive, Utility, Lvl: 70, 10.31% CP: 0 [BASIC]  
The ability to remain undetected without expending chakra. Encompasses chakra suppression, silent movement, and concealment. Passive mode will not hide oneself from active detection, but instead partially suppresses the user's chakra to hide their true strength. Active mode can be activated to attempt to hide from active detection, as well as to conceal evidence of one's passing.**

**{Silent Movement}: Active, Utility, Lvl: 40, 14.17% CP: 0  
The ability to move in absolute silence. Decreases chances of being detected by sound when moving. Modifies the {stealth} skill.  
Bonus improves with Agility.**

**{Concealment}: Active &amp; Passive, Utility, Lvl: 22, 90.47% CP: 0  
The ability to hide oneself from sight. Decreases chances of being detected by sight. Modifies the {Stealth} skill.  
Bonus improves with Agility.**

The second and third skills had been added when she broke the level 40 mark in the **{Stealth} [Basic]** skill, which made her wonder if something similar would happen when she reached that point with her other **[BASIC]** skills.

Sticking her tongue out at Sasuke, she delivered her prepared response. After all it wasn't like she had pranked the Old Man for no reason at all. "Did too. You know I'm the best in the class at stealth-"

"Yeah but we're not even Genin…" Sasuke tried to interject.

"-and besides given how much I'm there to visit Jiji, the guards basically ignore me once they verify who I am." _'After all its hard to fake being a Jinchuriki.' "_That and I think they find my pranks funny. At least someone appreciates my art." Naruko finished with a dramatic sigh.

**Ding! {Acting} has increased in level!**

Naruko ignored the message as Sasuke replied. "You call the Hokage Jiji?" Naruko nodded. "There's no way you know the Hokage. I just don't buy it."

'_Hook, Line, and Sinker!' _Naruko thought with a grin.

"She really does actually," Ino contributed, still grinning slightly at Naruko's antics. "He visited us when we were training once."

'_Shut it Ino, you're not helping!'_

"I still don't buy it." Sasuke was adamant.

"Then I'll prove it to you tonight. After class I'll take you to meet Jiji!" she concluded brightly.

Sasuke, thinking he had Naruko cornered agreed, and they all slipped back into their seats as classes resumed.

Naruko's plan had been a simple one, though perhaps all the more elegant for that. If she needed to keep Sasuke away from the Uchiha Compound on a specific night, she would just need to find something that would get his attention. And showing up a peer, or catching them in a lie always entertained kids their age.

Of course, Naruko's pride wouldn't let her ACTUALLY get caught out, hence she chose to use her connection to the Hokage. Just crazy enough not to be believable, but still true. From there it was just a matter of getting it mentioned in the right place at the right time, thus the prank and its retelling to the group of friends Naruko had painstakingly crafted.

Ino had been a given, having been Naruko's friend for years. Ino had managed to pull Hinata in as well, befriending her after their first sparring match. Sasuke had been the real surprise, seeming to gravitate to Naruko, after she proved herself as his equal in combat. After some initial head-butting and awkwardness with Ino he began to fit in rather well, something Naruko would make sure to capitalize on.

Sakura had been dragged in as well (not that she protested much) in the hopes that Sasuke's proximity would wear down some of his charm and make it easier to break her of her fangirl tendencies. That had been…less than successful, but it was a work in progress.

And now the day was here, the time for action. Naruko couldn't help but get the sense that the results of this day would determine how the rest of this timeline would play out. For better or worse. She couldn't help but feel a little nervous, but she did what she had always done at these times:

Take a deep breath and just go for it. She always did her best work flying by the seat of her pants.

She had received a quest that morning, and had immediately filled in one bonus objective, and after some thinking figured out the second:

**Childhood Arc: Bonus Quest**

**The Uchiha Massacre**

**Primary Objectives:**

**Ensure the survival of as many Uchiha as possible.**

**Secondary Objectives**

**Protect Sasuke**

**Exonerate Itachi **

**?**

She had no clue as to what the third was, or how she could pull of the second, but she was confident she could at least protect Sasuke. Parking him next to the strongest guy in the village was a pretty solid plan in her opinion. Now all that was left to do was wait.

* * *

That night, just as Naruko planned, she and Sasuke departed from the Academy together. Sasuke had been surprised when Naruko was actually willing to go so far as to lead him to the Hokage Tower, but he wasn't willing to let this go yet either.

As the arrived at the Hokage Tower, she noted the ANBU scanning them with sensory jutsu from their stations and confirming their identities as they entered. No one stopped them so she lead Sasuke up a flight of stairs, and down a hallway.

As they passed a logistics area Naruko overheard a vaguely familiar chuunin telling a story:

"So, we're all at his apartment right, and its been months since we were all together, so were all kinda bouncing around. So it gets a bit warm so he opens some windows and goes to turn on his fans, and rice goes literally EVERYWHERE!" Both chuunin broke into giggles at that point. "Turns out he hadn't used the things in months, but he'd been pranked with rice a while back and missed some." The first chuunin shook her head. "Only dark bit was there was a note mixed in with some that said 'DON'T DISCUSS SECURITY INFORMATION IN PUBLIC!' I guess someone wanted to teach him a lesson or something."

"I'd certainly learn my lesson after being called out like that," the second chuunin agreed.

Naruko sniggered at her successful prank (and lesson) as she passed, earning her a confused, then deadpan look from Sasuke. "Are you responsible for EVERY prank in this village."

"Nah, only like, maybe 90%?" she looked thoughtful for a moment. "Actually probably closer to 95%"

They both laughed a little before Naruko turned to a door. Blasting it open with a kick she stormed into the room with a loud "HI JIJI, I BROUGHT A FRIEND TO VISIT!"

It was only then that Naruko noted that the Hokage wasn't alone in the room. A second man, covered in bandages and with a distinctive x-shaped scar on his chin occupied the chair across from the Sandaime.

"Naruko-chan!" the Hokage managed to seem delighted to see her, despite clearly being decidedly unhappy. Sasuke only managed to stand there with his jaw wide open at the scene. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

Naruko however didn't respond. She was too busy in a furious exchange with her tenant. _'What do you mean you "Have an idea?"' _she asked mentally.

"**I have an idea that should exonerate Itachi." **Naruko mentally perked up. **"You remember what we heard from Karin about what Danzo had in his head? Uchiha Shisui's Sharingan. And judging by those bandages he already has it. Which means if we can uncover it we can implicate him as an aggressor against the Uchiha, and given that eye's 'properties' it will look really bad for Danzo."**

'_And if I just say nothing to the contrary, they blame Danzo for the massacre and with the right framing Itachi comes out looking like a tragic hero.' _Naruko mentally nodded. _'Good thinking, I've got this. It'll also let us explain some things.'_

Back outside Naruko's head the Hokage was getting concerned by Naruko's unresponsive state. "Naruko-chan? Are you alright?" The worry in his tone was obvious, causing Danzo to sneer at his old rival's softness.

Suddenly Naruko's eyes snapped back into focus and she leaped backwards, to land next to Sasuke in a ready stance. Sasuke to his credit snapped in to a guard stance next to her on reflex. "Get out of my head you creep." Naruko screamed at Danzo.

Hiruzen, turning to look at his rival just caught the warhawk's disappearing sneer, and completely misinterpreted it. Shifting himself so he was between Naruko and his former rival, he queried "What happened Naruko?"

**Ding! {Acting} has increased in level!**

"This bastard did something to me, I think it was a genjutsu. My err-" she glanced at Sasuke. "_Condition _let me break out of it but it was a nasty piece of work." At the mention of Naruko's 'condition,' Sarutobi stiffened.

Sasuke suddenly slumped to the ground unconscious. As Naruko caught him, the Hokage explained. "That was the **Forced Sleep **jutsu. Sasuke-kun is fine, but please explain what happened."

"Are you seriously going to be-" Danzo broke off hard at the glare he was receiving from the Hokage.

"I came in the room and saw this creep, and next thing I know I'm in my mindscape with an angry Kurama, ranting about Uchiha bastards and their devil's eyes. Most of what I got out of him was that this bastard used an undetectable Sharingan genjutsu on me. Would have been undetectable if he hadn't hit Kurama's blocks instead of me." Naruko grinned viciously. "Genjutsu just don't work on me ya bastard."

"Danzo what have you done." Hiruzen's voice was sad as he addressed his onetime friend. "Conditions were bad enough with the Uchiha, so you _attacked _one of them!"

"Are you really going to believe this bullshit the brat is spewing. She admits she is influenced by the Fox."

"If you're so innocent than prove it. This reeks of exactly your sort of manipulation Danzo. So show me that battle scar. Show me you're still short an eye and innocent." The Sandaime growled.

Danzo sneered, but reached to his head and pulled the bandages away, revealing his Sharingan eye. "Those fools are a blight on the village, and you know it. They are being wiped out anyways, I merely acted to preserve an important tool in the villages arsenal before their deaths." He spat, ignoring the Sandaime's frantic gesturing at Naruko's continued presence.

"People are not tools, nor are their pieces! And without your antagonizing them their might have been a chance for peace! How am I to know you didn't use that eye's **Kotoakatsukami **to instigate their rebellion?"

"Hah, I haven't had the eye that long, and besides. It can only be used periodically, once a month or so at most by an Uchiha."

"And besides," Naruko broke in. "If you wanted to preserve a weapon for the village, why did you have it implanted in yourself? Your old, you probably haven't taken a mission in years so the only people you could use it on members of the village."

Sarutobi's eyes glared at Danzo. He made a handseal, to deactivate the office's noise sealing. "ANBU. Seize Shimura Danzo for questioning. No one is to speak to him till I arrive." He took a deep breath. "Scramble teams to the Uchiha district. We need to stop this."

Ignoring Danzo's protests as he was lead away by the ANBU that flickered into the room, Sarutobi heaved a tired sigh and turned to Naruko. "Put Sasuke on the couch. I need to deal with this, but we WILL be having a discussion later."

Naruko gulped but nodded at her leader's seriousness.

* * *

Later that night Sarutobi returned to his office to find a meditating Naruko seated on one of the chairs in front of his desk, with a still sleeping Sasuke on the couch. Naruko's eyes opened and followed him as he seated himself behind the desk, folded his hands in front of him and stared at her.

After a few moments of Naruko fidgeting beneath his gaze. He began, "How long have you known you are the Kyuubi no Kitsune, or as you refer to it, Kurama's prison?"

"Since I was four or so," Naruko replied immediately. Knowing that lying now with the Sandaime's full attention on her was an exercise in futility, and would likely cause her a whole bucket load of problems. "I found my way into my mindscape and met him. He wasn't all that friendly at first but after a while we got on pretty well."

"Wasn't all that friendly? Stories tell of the Kyuubi, of Kurama as a being of widespread destruction and havoc incarnate. I think that's a bit more than unfriendly."

"I think-" Naruko paused. "I think those stories are either misinterpreted or were based on misunderstandings. "Kurama was mostly just bitter that he had been kept imprisoned for most of the past century. He said that when he attacked Konoha he was under someone's control."

Sarutobi leaned forward. "Did he say who?"

Naruko frowned. "They claimed they were Uchiha Madara, but Kurama said it wasn't him. That it was an imposter. But they did have a **'Mangekyo Sharingan.' ** Whatever that is."

"A dark secret, is what it is." Sarutobi said enigmatically before leaning back with a sigh. He studied Naruko for a moment. "How certain are you that the Fox can't influence you?"

"100%," Naruko said without hesitation. "According to what I read, in order to influence you, at least directly not through words, someone has to be in contact with you in your mindscape. Kurama's locked up so tight behind the seal that not even his chakra can get out without my permission."

"Would you submit to a Yamanaka checking you to make sure?" Sarutobi asked.

"Yes, but they should be REALLY careful. I'm not sure how much exposure to Kurama's chakra their minds could take, even if he isn't actively attacking them."

Sarutobi nodded slowly. "We will get that done soon then. Just to be safe. For now, you have my apologies for not telling you sooner. I was hoping you might have a more normal childhood before you graduated."

"Jiji I was _never _going to have a normal life." Hiruzen winced. "But thanks for trying, for caring." Naruko finished quietly with a soft smile. Looking up she asked, "What's going to happen to happen to Sasuke now?"

He snorted, "I shouldn't be surprised you know whats going on. You are a lot sharper than many give you credit for, aren't you?"

Naruko grinned, "Isn't hiding your strength a fundamental for shinobi? Besides, the creepy mummy said they were 'being wiped out' and then you sent ANBU to the Uchiha District, so it's not hard to piece together," she finished sadly.

Sarutobi barked out a laugh before growing serious. "What you are about to hear is an S-rank secret, as is your condition. While Kurama is your secret and you can tell who you will, this one is not to leave these four walls, ever, under pain of death as a traitor to Konoha." Naruko nodded her understanding. "I am telling you this, as you are smart enough to do some digging and figure things out on your own, and you know _something _is going on.

"The Uchiha clan were planning a coup de ta against the village leadership." Naruko closed her eyes to hide the lack of shock in them. "Negotiations were breaking down, but I still had hope. Tonight however matters were taken out of my hands, as the elder council ordered Uchiha Itachi to massacre his clan down to the last."

Naruko growled. "Why'd they make someone kill their own family. And how did they know Itachi would do it."

"He was our spy, and one of the few capable of carrying out the act. Additionally, he is one of the few in the know, so they could limit the spread of knowledge. This lets us keep the image of a strong, united village. He carried out the act, though the only survivor when he arrived was Uchiha Mikoto. His and Sasuke's mother.

"There is evidence that both of them were affected by Kotoakatsukami, and though Itachi's matches Danzo's chakra signature, Mikoto's does not. It appears that there is at least one rogue Uchiha out there, and that the majority of the Uchiha clan may have been innocent." Hiruzen heaved a tired sigh. "As things stand Itachi has volunteered to act as the fall man, as per the initial plan."

"Why?!" Naruko exclaimed!

"Because while we understand that many of the Uchiha may have been innocent, you should know better than anyone that the civilians do not understand ninja techniques. All three of them would become pariah's just as much as you, viewed as traitors by all. This way Sasuke and Mikoto can still lead relatively safe, happy lives, and Itachi can work on tracking down this rogue Uchiha from outside the village."

Naruko nodded glumly. She'd thought she had that one in the bag.

"Now, and this is important. Sasuke is to know none of this." At Naruko's incredulous look, he explained. "He is still young, and with that youth comes brashness. You are being told because I have no choice. If young Sasuke-kun were to find out and here someone badmouthing his brother, who he adores, would he be able to keep silent. Or would he expose the truth, dooming himself and his mother to misery for his brother's sake? And what if his brother were infiltrating somewhere when the news broke? He would be hard pressed to escape."

Naruko nodded slowly. "I understand Jiji. I'll keep quiet," she said, already planning how she could guide Sasuke into figuring out his brother wasn't evil.

Judging by the smirk on her grandfather figure's face he knew what she was planning and approved. "Now it's been a long night, so let's get some sleep, neh?" he said. "I'll have some ANBU bring you and Sasuke home."

**Childhood Arc: Bonus Quest**

**The Uchiha Massacre**

**Primary Objectives:**

**Ensure the survival of as many Uchiha as possible. [Success]**

**Secondary Objectives**

**Protect Sasuke [Success]**

**Exonerate Itachi [FAILED] **

**Implicate Danzo [Success]**

**Quest Complete! Two Bonus Objectives Complete!**

**Rewards (Danzo's Influence Reduced, Standing Increased: Uchiha Mikoto, Standing Increased: Uchiha Itachi, Standing Increased: Konoha) **

* * *

Naruko sighed as she watched Sakura land on her ass in front of the class again. It was getting embarrassing to see her get thrashed so regularly. It wasn't like she was a poor fighter, it was just that she was weaker and slower than the rest of her classmates. It also didn't help that she completely ignored her instincts and held herself rigidly to the combat style they taught in the Academy, which while effective, was not the best and didn't really hold up to the plethora of clan styles their class represented.

She would have to do something about that, right after she dealt with her _other _problematic future teammate. It had been 3 months since the Massacre, and Sasuke had been back in classes for the past two weeks. Supposedly he was in counseling, but all of the Uchiha's friends could tell it wasn't helping. Or he just sat there ignoring the councilor, and Naruko had a sneaking suspicion which it was.

With a tired sigh Naruko looked at the dreary overcast sky that threatened rain. She closed her eyes for a moment and just felt the world around her, missing the sensation Sage Mode would have given her. Despite figuring it would be useless she knew she would have to talk to Sasuke.

She approached him after class with a "Yo!"

"What?" he snapped tiredly at her.

"I'd like my friend back if its all the same," she calmly replied.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Simple. Your constant brooding. I get that you need time, that you need to grieve. But the way you treat everyone, the moping, the cold shoulder routine? It's hurting everyone around you, and I'd hate to see you finally get past this, and not have any friends left."

"Like you know what its like dealing with this. Like you ever had anyone and lost them," he snarled. "Just leave me alone." And with that he stormed off.

Naruko just stood there silently for a moment. _'I know better than you could probably comprehend, teme.' _With a deep sigh she turned around and started to walk away before spotting a flash of pink in the corner of her eye. That was something she could deal with, and she really needed to hit something.

"Oi, Sakura! Lets talk after class."

* * *

After class Naruko lead Sakura off towards one of the old training fields. This was one she used with Ino and Hinata regularly, though they had never gotten Sakura to join them.

"So I was training with Hinata when I found it, this really nice hot spring. It looks unused and the area is pretty well hidden, so I was thinking I could turn it into our own private hot spring area, and since Ino's birthday is coming up we could use it as a present. You in to help?"

"Yeah, that sounds awesome!" Sakura chattered excitedly as they emerged into the main clearing of the training grounds. She was completely unprepared when Naruko's fist crashed across her face.

Falling to the ground with a scream, she glared at Naruko. "What the hell? What was that for Naruko?"

Instead of answering, Naruko grabbed the front of her dress, easily lifting Sakura over her shoulder and hurling her across the clearing. Sakura landed on her front, and started to scramble away, but was pinned when Naruko landed on her back, pinning her down with a knee.

"Where's Sasuke, Sakura?" Naruko whispered in Sakura's ear. "Where is your precious knight in shining armor when you need him?"

Sakura's eyes widened. "What does that have to do with anything?" she asked, still struggling underneath Naruko.

Yanking her head back by the hair, Naruko glared down into Sakura's eyes. "It has _everything_ to do with this. All day you cheer for Sasuke, and it's only gotten worse lately. You starve yourself, and waste your time making yourself pretty for him, but when you need him where is he?"

Sakura's froze at Naruko's implication. "B-but,"

"But nothing," Naruko spat, as she got off Sakura. "This time it was me, but on missions? You have a _lot _more to fear than an annoyed friend. You spend time you could be training getting pretty for a boy. Right now Sasuke is _broken_, and your so obsessed I doubt you could even see it." Naruko sighed. "He needs friends not fans, and you need to shape up fast, or you're going to get hurt. There are a lot worse fates than death for Kunoichi."

Sakura gulped as she looked down at her dress which had torn slightly down the front where Naruko had grabbed it. "Naruko…I…"

"You're my first friend, probably my _best _friend. I just don't want to see you get hurt." Naruko said as she turned away.

"Train me,"

Naruko stopped, keeping facing away from Sakura to hide her smile. "It'll be hard. You probably won't have time to waste on Sasuke."

A split second's hesitation, then: "Train me," more confidently this time.

"I'm going to make you stop dieting. Training like I'll put you through on an empty stomach is dangerous."

"Like you said, Sasuke needs friends not fans." Sakura hauled herself to her feet. "This way I can stand beside him. I like those odds better than as another fan. And this way I don't have to worry you." She concluded softly.

"We meet her after classes every other day," she said looking over her shoulder to let Sakura see her smile. "See you tomorrow Sakura-chan!" Naruko called out as she started walking again. "Oh and the hot-spring is real, right over there," she thought to add, pointing.

Shortly after walking out of the clearing, out of sight of Sakura, Naruko paused. "What is it Sasuke?" she asked.

"What was that all about?" Sasuke asked as he stepped out from behind a tree. "You're not usually that…vicious."

"Yeah well someone was wearing off on me!" Naruko snapped back. "I didn't want to hurt her, but better me than some enemy ninja while she's waiting for a savior that'll abandon her at the drop of the hat. You're lucky she couldn't spot you in the tree line, or you'd have lost a friend or two today."

Sasuke sneered. "I'd hardly call the loss of my entire family the drop of a hat!"

"It's been _months _Sasuke. _Months_. You can't keep pushing people away, or eventually they will leave, and you'll be even more alone." Naruko looked down sadly. "That's not something you want, believe me."

Sasuke snorted. "I think I can handle it. It can't be much worse than this." He started to turn away, but flinched backwards into the tree behind him, when Naruko was suddenly in front of him, her fist slamming into the tree next to his head.

"It can be _so _much worse," Naruko spat. "Being truly alone? It's the worst kind of pain. Don't ever take your friends for granted."

"I'm not you. I don't _need _anyone. I can survive on my own, and kill my brother myself," the would be avenger spat hatefully.

Naruko slapped him clear across the face. When he looked back up shock still on his face, she spoke. "Fight me. If you're so strong then fight me, prove to me that you can handle anything the world can throw at you alone."

Growling he threw a punch at her that Naruko flipped backwards from. They had been neck and neck in spars before he left. But Naruko had a few months advantage on him now, and it showed. She was stronger and faster than him now:

**Uzumaki Naruko:**

**Level: 1**

**HP: 250/250**

**CP: 1000100/1000100 **

**Str: 24**

**Agi: 27**

**Vit: 30**

**Int: 27**

**Wis: 24**

**Lck: 50**

**Status: Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Heritage,**

**Uchiha Sasuke:**

**Level: 3**

**HP: 300/300**

**CP: 172/172 **

**Str: 17**

**Agi: 22**

**Vit: 16**

**Int: 20**

**Wis: 16**

**Lck: 10**

**Status: Uchiha Heritage, Sharingan (Locked)**

The three months of training, amplified by Naruko's status as a game character had left a marked difference between them. Sasuke didn't stand a chance against her now and she knew it.

Sasuke growled as he spun to face her new position several feet to his left. In a burst of speed he launched himself at her, only for Naruko to spin underneath his punch and throw an elbow to his gut. Sasuke pushed of the ground, leaping over her elbow and grabbing her arm.

As he landed he transitioned into a perfect throw towards a nearby tree. Naruko flipped through the air and landed feet first on the trunk, immediately pushing off into flip that ended with an axe kick towards Sasuke's head.

Sasuke tried to block but was unprepared for Naruko's newfound strength. Blasting through his guard Naruko's kick smashed into Sasuke's shoulder and sent him sprawling. Not giving him a chance to recover, Naruko dashed towards the fallen Uchiha and send a blindingly fast punch at his face. Again managing to twist out of the way, Sasuke rolled away from Naruko before vaulting back to his feet.

They landed facing each other with a dozen feet between them, both breathing hard. "What do you want me to do?" Sasuke growled. "Someone has to avenge my family, and I don't see anyone else rushing to challenge my brother!"

"Your brothers a fucking S-class Nuke-nin. Of course no one's rushing to fight him, for 99% of us that'd be suicide. For _you _it'd be suicide!" Naruko shouted back. "I'm not asking you to give up on getting even for your family, just that you don't lose yourself in the process."

"I'm not losing myself, I'm finding myself. Maybe you just don't like who I am!" Sasuke snarled, and charged her again.

Leading in with a punch Naruko re-directed to the side, she stepped into his guard and landed a three punch combo to his sternum before dropping into a spin kick he jumped over, before slamming a haymaker into her face as she tried to rise.

Rolling with the painful blow, Naruko came to her feet just in time to meet Sasuke's next charge with a block that trapped his fist, letting her twist his arm into a painful joint lock and slam him into a tree with it.

"Finding yourself?" Naruko asked skeptically. "You're missing the incredibly obvious, the only thing your finding is your stupidity."

"Missing the obvious? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked still struggling.

"Simple. Things don't add up from that night. Your brother was a pacifist, but he killed your clan. Your brother loved Konoha, but he betrayed it. It doesn't make sense!"

"Then why the hell is he a criminal?! Why the hell did he run?!" Sasuke snarled before finally throwing Naruko off him.

Another heated exchange of blows ended with Naruko finally landing a decisive blow, a drop kick to Sasuke's sternum, driving the breath from his lungs. Grabbing his collar, Naruko swung the Uchiha heir into the ground and brought an elbow to his throat, a blow that would have crushed his windpipe if she hadn't stopped it.

"I don't know why he ran," she panted. "But I do know it's not like you to let those inconsistencies fly. I get that your hurt and you want payback, but if you do things this way you're going to hurt yourself worse in the end."

Sasuke seemed to deflate. "What do I do Naruko? What am I supposed to feel now? How am I supposed to act?"

Naruko was unused to so many people asking her how to live their lives. "I don't know, but I _recommend_ you actually talk to those councilors," she said pointedly. "They kinda know what their doing, and they can help. And when the time comes, and you've decided what to do about Itachi and your ready? Let me know, I've got your back."

Naruko climbed off Sasuke, and started to walk away, with a slight limp. Checking her stats she realized Sasuke had dropped her by almost 100 HP. She wasn't sure if she had actually managed to get through to Sasuke or not, but punching the broody bastard had been very cathartic. She'd just have to see how things went.

* * *

The next day Naruko was sitting down for class at the academy, when Sasuke dropped into the seat next to her that had been occupied by Ino for the past few months.

"Thanks, for last night. I needed to hear what you said, and my Kaa-san backed you up about me acting like a brat." He sighed. "I'm actually going to talk to those counselors. And I'll hold you to that promise to help when the time comes."

Naruko just smirked and nodded. It was all that needed to be said. She still wasn't sure how that had worked though. _'Chalk up another one for Therapy-jutsu I guess?' _

Deep in her mindscape she heard Kurama laughing and smiled.

* * *

**A/N:** I am going to start replying to the concerns I get in reviews and PM's, at least the repeated ones at the end of each chapter. If you mention something that no one else does I will just shoot you a quick PM response.

Also other note, I owe one of my friends a HUGE apology, because she Beta'ed a couple of chapters for me and I forgot to give her credit. As I have no clue how she wants me to refer to her on here, for now I shall refer to her as Conquest. Currently the only chapter she worked on that is still posted is chapter one, which has since been edited to give her credit. I also re-wrote a tiny portion of it, but nothing effectively changed, so don't worry about rereading it.

This chapter has not been beta'd yet, Conquest is dealing with some stuff, so I'll update this when she has had a chance to look over it.

Review Replies:

1) {Chakra Control} as a skill is level MAX because it is never leveled up directly. Instead it represents Naruko's total control of her chakra based on all the exercises she has done. So the 1% she can draw now is her initial control, and then after she masters leaf climbing she could draw, say 0.9%, then less after tree climbing etc. So it is still trainable, just in a different way.  
On that note, some of the systems in the game are going to seem a bit weird at first glance. This is because I am trying to bring the system to emulate the Naruto-verse rather than the Naruto-verse to emulate a game.

2) Naruko doesn't have things harder really, other than how she is MAKING them harder, by interfering in events she had no part in last time. Conversely the system is giving her a hassle, because otherwise this would turn into a god!Naruko fic so fast it wouldn't be funny. (Naruko teaching herself shadow clones for training from the age of 4, with the ability to increase any of her stats negating the idiocy she dealt with originally, AND a video game system streamlining her? She would hit S-Rank before graduating). So the system requires her to have a trainer for any skill she knew previously. For instance, she can't recreate Rasengan without Jiraya to teach her, because she would be intending to create a Rasengan. Conversely she could create another technique inspired by it from scratch, but which she never used before. Similarly she will be able to recreate the Oiroke by herself once she learns henge, as that is what it is based on.

3) Naruko he/she mixups. I apologize for these, I try to catch as many as I can, but Naruto is a pretty Male character in my head, so I tend to naturally put down he a lot and then have to fix it. It gets worse when I am talking about the original timeline and have to figure out how to refer to the character pre gender swap. I'm not really sure what the "right" thing to do is in those cases.

4) Several people have been concerned about the horrible score in the first chap. Normally I would agree and say "Yeah Naruto didn't really know what he was doing" so based on what he can be expected to do, give him more points. However that score is video game based, meaning it takes into account what he could do WITH foreknowledge, and with more training than a person would be expected to have. Given when she started, on the order of 6 or 7 years of training.

5) There has been some concern with Naruko not "going wild" and changing things left and right. I have a very good reason for this, which can be summarized in two words: "Butterfly Effect." Yes Naruko is going to be changing things, but the more she changes early on the less she will know about the future. So she is basically cherry picking, at least at first, and trying not to stand out so she can make certain very important changes in the future. Also I apologize if there was a misconception, but I am writing this to be at least semi-serious, not as a crack-fic or humor piece.

Also thanks to Anon-kun for pointing out my math-fail in chapter one. Since you posted as a guest, I unfortunately can't reply to you directly, but thanks.

As another note, I had to go back and fix some numbers, because I realized I completely messed up the system, and things weren't lining up even remotely correctly. So if you go back and review previous chapters, you will see that all the numbers got a LOT bigger, at least for health and chakra.


End file.
